ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Abandoned Vehicles

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned vehicles were collected in Huntingdon in 2002–03; what the average length of time was from notification to collection; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: One thousand one hundred and sixty, abandoned vehicles were removed and destroyed in Huntingdon in 2001–02, the most recent year for which data are available from the Municipal Waste Management Survey. Information on the length of time from notification to a local authority of an abandoned vehicle to its collection is not collected as part of the survey.

Abandoned Vehicles

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned vehicles were collected in Chorley in each of the last three years; and what the average length of time was from notification to collection.

Elliot Morley: The information requested for Chorley borough council is given in the table.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of Abandoned Vehicles Removed and Destroyed 
		
		
			 2000–01 300 
			 2001–02 274 
		
	
	2001–02 is the most recent year for which data are available from the Municipal Waste Management Survey. Information on the length of time from notification to a local authority of an abandoned vehicle to its collection is not collected as part of the survey.

American Ships (Decommissioning)

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with Able UK on how it proposes to dispose of the polychlorinated biphenyls in the US ghost ships.

Elliot Morley: None. Regulation of this matter is for the Environment Agency. Environmental legislation requires that all wastes arising from the vessels would need to be treated or disposed of at facilities duly authorised to accept and deal with them. This includes disposal of wastes containing non-liquid polychlorinated biphenyls, which is confined to electrical insulation, gaskets, seals and similar uses on the ships.

Animal Medicines

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received about the European Union's changes to the status of animal medicines to veterinary prescription only pharmaceuticals.

Ben Bradshaw: We have received letters opposing the European Commission's proposal to require all veterinary medicines for food producing animals to be prescription only. This proposal does not apply to medicines for companion animals.
	During the review of the EU medicines legislation officials from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) have had regular discussions with interested parties on all aspects of the proposed changes to the veterinary medicines legislation. Particular account has been taken of the distribution of medicines for food producing animals. The Government's aim in the negotiations was to enable a flexible approach to such distribution that takes advantage of existing national practices so long as consumer protection and animal welfare can be demonstrably assured. This has been achieved.

Animal Medicines

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of the cost of veterinary prescription only pharmaceuticals on (a) farmers' incomes and (b) farm animal health.

Ben Bradshaw: I have made no assessment of the effect of the cost of prescription only medicines on farmers incomes or farm animal health as the use of medicines relates directly to the husbandry methods and disease pattern on an individual farm. However, the Government have accepted Competition Commission recommendations in their Report on the supply within the United Kingdom of prescription only veterinary medicines that are designed to lead, over time, to an overall reduction in the cost of all veterinary medicines.

Animal Medicines

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the United Kingdom Government will implement EU changes to the status of animal medicines to veterinary prescription only pharmaceuticals; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The European Parliament adopted a compromise text of amendments under Review 2001 in the second reading stage on 17 December 2003. This is expected to be considered for adoption by the Council of Ministers as soon as the translated texts are available. Once this has been achieved, we will be starting a full review of the UK legislation taking into account the changes to EU legislation, the recommendations of the Competition Commission Report on the supply within the United Kingdom of prescription only veterinary medicines and those of the Independent Review of Dispensing (Marsh Report). This will involve discussion with interested parties and will lead to formal proposals being circulated for consultation in early 2005.
	We will implement the EU changes to the status of veterinary medicines for food producing animals. We will discuss proposals to amend national legislation to introduce POM A, B and C categories as recommended in the Marsh Report. POM C comprise the current Pharmaceuticals and Merchants List products and these would continue to be distributed under the control of Specially Qualified Persons working for registered agricultural merchants.

Animal Welfare Bill

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implications of the public consultation held in 2002 on the Animal Welfare Bill on progress of the Bill.

Ben Bradshaw: The public consultation on an Animal Welfare Bill ended in April 2002 and attracted some 2,500 replies. The comments received in response to the consultation, together with the subsequent discussions we held with over 100 organisations representing a wide spectrum of views on animal welfare, have contributed greatly to the drafting of the Animal Welfare Bill. A further round of public consultation on a possible draft Bill is anticipated in spring 2004.

Animal Welfare Bill

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there is scope within the new Animal Welfare Bill to cull out contiguous pockets of m.bovis infection in species other than badgers.

Ben Bradshaw: No. The proposed Animal Welfare Bill will relate only to the welfare of captive and domestic animals. Wild animals in the wild are therefore outside the scope of the Bill.

CFC Gases

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the guidance will be issued to licensed premises for the recovery of CFC gases from disused refrigeration equipment.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency (EA) and Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) published guidance in April 2002. A review of this guidance has taken place in conjunction with SEPA and the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS). This revised guidance was sent out for external consultation with Fridge Destruction Industry.
	Due to the recent amendment to the ODS Regulations, which now require member states to report on the amount of controlled substances recovered, recycled or destroyed every year, the Environment Agency is now reviewing the guidance, any additional changes will require further public consultation.
	Following this consultation the guidance will be issued.

CFC Gases

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether since the amendment made to EU Regulation 2037/2000 of 7 November 2003, the Government have collated the figure for the tonnage of CFCs recovered from the de-manufacture of refrigeration equipment; and what figure was given to the EU Commission by the deadline of 31 December 2003.

Elliot Morley: Since the technical amendment was not published until 22 October 2003, and did not come into force until November the obligation on reporting only applies to the months of November and December. We are currently collecting this information.

CFC Gases

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average recovery level achieved by licensed UK plants in respect of CFC from refrigeration equipment was in the last year for which figures are available.

Elliot Morley: From the figures available for the fridge destruction plants, the average recovery rate of CFC from the R11 Blowing Agent in England and Wales in 2003 was 186.13 g per unit.

Denby Poultry

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  pursuant to the statement of the Under-Secretary of State for Health, of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 1172, whether the Cabinet Committee on meat crime will consider issues of co-ordination between government departments and agencies arising from (a) the meat fraud conspiracy case at Denby Poultry and (b) previous meat fraud cases;
	(2)  pursuant to the statement of the Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State for Health, of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 1172, what the remit is of the Cabinet Committee on meat crime.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 12 January 2004
	Although there is no committee looking specifically at "meat crime", there is a Cabinet Committee on Illegal Imports:
	The Ministerial Committee on Illegal Imports (MISC 23), has the following Terms of Reference:
	"To co-ordinate policy on imports of animals, plants, fish and their products".

Domestic Waste

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to publish the results of her Department's investigation of the feasibility of variable charging for domestic waste collection.

Elliot Morley: In its response to the Strategy Unit report, "Waste Not, Want Not", the Government undertook to carry out further work before a decision is taken on whether to enable local authorities to implement direct or variable charging for waste. This work, which is looking at the practicalities of operating schemes, how potential disadvantages could be overcome and is analysing international experience of such schemes, is under way. The Government will consider the results of this work during 2004.

Environmental Council

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the outcome was of the Environmental Council on 22 December 2003; what the Government's stance was on the discussion on the EU Chemical Regulation; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I attended the Environment Council on 22 December 2003, together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	The Council adopted a Regulation establishing a transitional points system applicable to heavy goods vehicles travelling through Austria for 2004 (known as 'Ecopoints'), a matter previously dealt with by Transport ministers. Agreement had been reached between the Council and the European Parliament through the conciliation process, but there was a discussion in Council as Austria was unable to support the outcome. Council approved the result of the conciliation committee, with Austria voting against.
	We held a short discussion on the proposed revision of the Directive on the management of bathing water. A compromise text prepared by the Presidency was unacceptable to the Commission and to a number of member states, including Germany, Greece and Spain, who believed it would produce an insufficiently demanding new Directive. The Secretary of State made it clear that the UK would be unable to agree to the legally binding targets to be reached by 2015, on which the Commission wished to insist. It was evident that there was no realistic prospect of reaching political agreement at this meeting, and the Italian Presidency decided to leave further negotiations to the forthcoming Irish Presidency.
	We debated the Commission's proposals concerning the Kyoto Protocol's project mechanisms in relation to the EU scheme for greenhouse gas emissions trading. Ministers expressed their views on a number of questions posed by the Presidency. Most supported early linking to the Clean Development Mechanism, although views were divided on whether such linking could be made available prior to the Kyoto Protocol coming into force. There was also a range of views on the question of qualitative standards for projects, and on the use of sinks. The Secretary of State spoke in support of quantitative limits on the use of credits.
	We agreed three sets of Council Conclusions: supporting the preparation of an EU strategy to reduce atmospheric emissions from seagoing ships; agreeing the EU's position for the 7th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity, to be held in Kuala Lumpur in February; and noting the Commission's 2003 environment policy review.
	The Commission presented its recently-published proposal for a Regulation on the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals ('REACH'), urging the Council to make rapid progress and to maintain the integrity of the Commission's proposal. There were comments from several member states concerning the significance of this dossier, and the need for appropriate input from both the Environment and Competitiveness formations of the Council. Ireland confirmed that this dossier would be a priority during their Presidency, and that they would continue to involve both industry and environment ministers. There was no UK intervention.
	There was an exchange of views on the Commission's proposal for a Regulation to extend the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE) until 2006. Portugal, Spain, Finland, France, Greece and Poland all expressed support for early agreement, and a wish to see LIFE continue beyond 2006. Germany and Sweden were also supportive but emphasised the need for the extension to take place within the existing financial perspective.
	The Commission spoke briefly to note that its report on the European Environment Agency was due to be published within days.
	There was no discussion of the remaining items under Other Business, which were all written items for information.
	Over lunch we discussed the outcome of the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change, and heard from Borge Brende, the Norwegian environment minister, who is to chair the 12th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD12) in April. He informed the ministers present that he has asked the Secretary of State to chair the UNECE Regional Implementation Forum in Geneva on 15–16 January, which will help prepare for CSD12.

Fisheries

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what type of trawl is used as standard for scientific fisheries research within the European Union.

Ben Bradshaw: The type of trawl used for survey work varies according to target species and area. In the fisheries of interest to UK fishermen, the main trawls used for surveying bottom living fish are the GOV and the beam trawl.
	The GOV is a general purpose bottom trawl with a high headline and is used for scientific surveys where the target species are the main commercially important whitefish including cod, haddock, whiting, pout and saithe. The net also samples some of the main shoaling or pelagic species including herring and mackerel. The design and operation of the GOV trawl is co-ordinated by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and all countries involved in the International Bottom Trawl surveys in the North Sea use the GOV trawl with an internationally-agreed specification. In addition to the North Sea, the GOV is used in surveys in the west of Scotland and the eastern English Channel, and has recently been adopted as the main trawl for surveys in the Irish Sea and Celtic Sea.
	For flatfish species such as plaice and sole, the main gear used is the beam trawl. Scientific surveys in the North Sea, eastern and western English Channel, the Irish Sea and Bristol Channel are again co-ordinated through ICES. The survey trawls are based on the beam trawls used commercially but vary slightly in size and specification between areas.
	Scientifically, it is desirable that survey trawls remain unchanged over a relatively long time period in order to ensure consistency in the survey catch rates from year to year.

Fisheries

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government will pay transitional aid to fishing vessels in England adversely affected by effort controls resulting from the Cod Recovery Programme on the same basis as proposed for fishing vessels in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Ben Bradshaw: We have no plans to do so.

Flood Defences (Edgware)

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the flood defence works for the Silkstream, Edgware.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 8 January 2004
	As you know Defra approved the Environment Agency's proposed Silk Stream flood defence scheme in March 2003, subject to satisfactory resolution of negotiations with landowners. I understand that design and land negotiations are proceeding largely to plan, although having to deal with a variety of estates departments has resulted in some delay.
	The Agency is undertaking a review of the relative priority of all capital schemes in the programme for Thames region, in the light of the available resources. Until that review is complete, the Agency is unable to provide an update of its planned timetable for the construction of the Silk Stream scheme.

Horse Passport

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when it will become an offence not to have a passport for all equines.

Alun Michael: From 1 July 2004.

Hazardous Waste

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Hazardous Waste Regulations will be published.

Elliot Morley: Draft new Hazardous Waste Regulations will be published when Defra goes out to consultation on the Regulations in early 2004. After a 12 week consultation period, new Regulations should be laid before Parliament in spring 2004.

Hazardous Waste

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what mass of hazardous waste was produced in the UK for each of the last five years, broken down by category of hazardous waste.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency has provided the following data for England and Wales to show types of hazardous waste produced each year broken down by European Waste Catalogue (EWC) category. The Environment Agency moved from financial year to calendar year reporting in 2000, and only data for complete years is shown.
	
		Trends in types of hazardous waste produced 1998–99 to 2002 -- Thousand tonnes
		
			 EWC Code Broad Category 1998–99 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 01 Wastes from Mining and Minerals 13 13 7 9 
			 02 Waste from Agricultural and Food Production 6 9 6 4 
			 03 Wastes from Wood and Paper Production 3 7 5 3 
			 04 Wastes from Leather and Textile Production 2 3 3 4 
			 05 Wastes from Petrol, Gas and Coal Refining/ Treatment 259 88 126 68 
			 06 Wastes from Inorganic Chemical Processes 366 295 225 224 
			 07 Wastes from Organic Chemical Processes 573 591 613 593 
			 08 Wastes from Manufacture, Formulation, Supply and Use of Paints, Varnish, Adhesive and Inks 145 141 132 115 
			 09 Wastes from the Photographic Industry 13 22 42 40 
			 10 Wastes from Thermal Processes (inorganic) 113 176 215 191 
			 11 Wastes from Metal Treatment and Coating Processes 146 120 127 115 
			 12 Wastes from Shaping/Treatment of Metals and Plastics 151 96 96 94 
			 13 Oil Wastes 1,036 1,098 1,042 1,008 
			 14 Waste Solvents 109 139 110 63 
			 15 Waste Packaging, Cloths, Filter Materials 48 65 69 52 
			 16 Wastes Not Otherwise Specified 484 753 584 672 
			 17 Construction and Demolition Wastes and Asbestos 1,008 1,064 1,385 1,243 
			 18 Waste from Healthcare 17 17 21 20 
			 19 Wastes from Waste/Water Treatment and Water Industry 235 306 278 346 
			 20 Municipal arid Similar Commercial Wastes 86 129 49 98 
			 99 Unclassified 99 64 78 95 
			  Total all classes 4,910 5,196 5,213 5,058

Hazardous Waste

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the hazardous waste landfill sites identified by the Environment Agency that will remain as hazardous waste landfills following reclassification in July 2004; if she will identify for each site the types of hazardous waste that the site can dispose of; and whether each site is for private use.

Elliot Morley: The information requested, as at 16 December 2003 is set out in a table which has been placed in the Library. Under the new regulations, former sites can continue to accept hazardous waste if it is contained within a separate disposal cell. This is likely to lead to additional sites as well as these dedicated sites.

Hazardous Waste

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of (a) the lead content in glass television screens and (b) lead glass in crystal for household use, with respect to the disposal of hazardous waste; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: A draft study currently being finalised for Defra shows that lead oxide accounts for approximately 9 per cent. by mass of the cathode ray tube in television sets with screens of 19 inches and over. Lead bound up within the glass of the cathode ray tube does not leach very readily. No formal assessment of lead glass in crystal for household use has been carried out as such material when discarded is not on the hazardous waste list.

Hazardous Waste

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the delay of the landfill allowance trading scheme until 2005.

Elliot Morley: The decision to delay the implementation of the landfill allowance trading scheme until 2005 which was announced by the Minister of State for Local and Regional Government on 19 November 2003, was made as part of Defra's contribution to helping to reduce spending pressures on local government in 2004–05. We expect local authorities to be able to save up to £10 million as a result. (On 6 January 2004 we announced that Defra will also provide a targeted grant of £20 million to local authorities in 2004–05 to help address the spending pressures arising from their statutory recycling targets).
	The decision reflects the views of local authorities which we received through our consultation on the implementation of the landfill allowance trading scheme, that they needed more time to prepare for this new scheme which is a significant departure from their normal operations. The delay in starting the scheme will mean that waste disposal authorities will have to make steeper annual reductions in the amount of biodegradable waste they landfill in order to meet the first target year of 2010 but they will have more time to plan how to do this.
	The Government will use the additional time to raise awareness of the scheme within local authorities and to educate and support those who will make use of its provisions.

Hazardous Waste

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of delaying the introduction of the landfill allowance trading scheme on achieving the UK's compliance with the landfill directive; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Delaying the introduction of the landfill allowance trading scheme in England should not affect the achievement of landfill directive targets for the UK in 2010, 2013 and 2020. The delay is intended to give local authorities more time to decide how, and over what time period, to invest in alternative waste management options to landfill.

Hazardous Waste

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether her Department has received requests from waste disposal authorities for the start of the landfill allowance trading scheme to be delayed;
	(2)  whether her Department has received requests from waste disposal authorities for the start of the landfill allowance trading scheme to be delayed.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 9 December 2003
	Yes. During regional consultation meetings on the implementation of theLandfill Allowance Trading Scheme held in September 2003, local authorities commented that they would find it difficult to operate the scheme in 2004–05. This view has been reinforced by the written responses to the consultation that have been analysed to date. Local Authorities generally feel that they need more time to prepare for a trading scheme that is a completely new departure from their normal operations. It has already been announced that the start date will be delayed by one year.

Puppy Farms

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the European Union on the import into the UK of puppies from puppy farms;
	(2)  what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Republic of Ireland concerning the importation of puppies from puppy farms in the Republic of Ireland;
	(3)  how many puppies have been imported into the United Kingdom from puppy farms in the Republic of Ireland in each of the last five years;
	(4)  what licensing arrangements are in place in respect of importers of puppies from puppy farms in (a) the Irish Republic and (b) elsewhere;
	(5)  what recent representations she has received regarding the importation of puppies from puppy farms in (a) the Republic of Ireland and (b) elsewhere.

Ben Bradshaw: There are no centrally held statistics available for the number of dogs imported into the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland because there are no restrictions on trade of animals between the two countries. However, all movements of animals for commercial purposes within the EU must comply with the provisions of EU Directive 91/628/EEC on the protection of animals during transport, which in the UK is implemented by the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997. There have been no discussions with my counterparts in the Republic of Ireland or the EU on the subject of importation of puppies from puppy farms into the UK.

Sandhurst Explosion

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will hold a Public Inquiry into the explosion at Cleansing Services Group, Sandhurst, Gloucestershire, in October 2000; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 15 December 2003
	I have recently received a Final Report (prepared by the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive) into the incident at Cleansing Services Group, Sandhurst. When I have considered the implications of this report, I will make a statement.

Tees Estuary

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what analysis has been made of the risk of the introduction of species of wildlife or plants from the James River estuary to the Tees estuary as a result of the arrival in Hartlepool of the US ships intended for decommissioning;
	(2)  what measures were taken to reduce the risk to the Tees estuary from the importation of alien species in ballast water in the US ships intended for decommissioning by Able UK.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency considered the risk of transfer of species of wildlife or plants in ballast water and imposed a condition on the Able UK waste management licence. This requires that no removal or disposal of ballast water may take place from any of the US vessels, except in accordance with a detailed method statement submitted to and approved in writing by the Agency. These are more stringent conditions than apply to the many visiting ships to the UK.

US Warships (Disposal)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the status of the ghost ships in Hartlepool.

Elliot Morley: Four decommissioned US government-owned vessels are currently being stored by Able UK at Hartlepool. The vessels have been surveyed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to assess the integrity of the vessels' structures and safety systems following their passage across the Atlantic, and were confirmed to be in satisfactory condition. The US authorities accept that the four ships will have to return to the US, unless environmentally suitable and legally acceptable methods for their disposal have been identified. The immediate return of the vessels is not practicable. In the meantime the Environment Agency has modified the conditions of Abie's waste management licence so that no dismantling, cutting or breaking of the vessels is permitted, pending the best environmental option for dealing with them.

Waste Management

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in the Department have responsibility for waste management.

Elliot Morley: As at 15 December 2003, there are 95 officials employed by Defra with responsibility for waste management. In addition to this, there are four secondees who are on temporary placement.

Waste Management

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the polluter pays principle applies to management of the municipal waste stream; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC as amended by 91/156/EEC) sets out a range of measures on the management of waste—including its collection and disposal. These measures include Article 8 which requires that "any holder of waste has it handled by a private or public waste collector; and Article 15 which provides that "In accordance with the 'polluter pays' principle, the cost of disposing of waste must be borne by.... the holder who has it handled by a waste collector."
	The Government has put a range of measures in place under Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 to comply with the Directive's requirements. These measures include the arrangements for the collection and disposal of household waste-by-waste collection and disposal authorities. The cost of collection and disposal under these arrangements is met through taxation and charges. Most commercial and industrial waste is collected and disposed of by the private sector under arrangements which comply with the Directive. The cost of collection and disposal under these arrangement is met through charges.
	Municipal waste includes household waste and any other wastes collected by a waste collection authority or its agents under Part II of the 1990 Act (Waste Strategy 2000 page 198 (Cm 4693–2)).

Waste Management

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she plans to extend the statutory duty on local authorities with regard to recycling and composting beyond 2005–06; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Government is committed to reviewing the national recycling targets this year, in light of the progress made by local authorities in meeting their 2003–04 Statutory Performance Standards for recycling and composting.
	The review will include consideration of whether to set further statutory recycling targets for local authorities for the years beyond 2005–06, to succeed the current Statutory Performance Standards.

Waste Management

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of material have been recycled as a direct result of the Waste and Resources Action Programme's activity; what the average cost to public funds was per tonne of such recycled material; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: WRAP'S market development programmes are delivering an extra 1,000,000 tonnes/year of additional recycling capacity in the UK, through projects that have been delivered or are close to completion.
	It is estimated that all of the capital grant and R&D projects initiated by WRAP, once fully realised, will generate at least four million extra tonnes of recycling per year in the UK. If the reasonable assumption is made that this recycling will continue to be delivered for at least 10 years, the cost to the public purse is estimated to be approximately £1/tonne.
	These estimates relate solely to WRAP'S R&D and capital interventions and not to WRAP'S advocacy and procurement work, which make essential contributions to the programme as a whole, but are not so easily related to tonnage figures.

Water Supplies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the water supply and urban and rural drainage bodies in England which are companies where a holding company or majority of shareholdings are not from the United Kingdom, stating in each case the country and name of the ultimate owner, together with date of acquisition.

Elliot Morley: The following table lists those water and sewerage and water undertakers that are owned by companies based outside the U.K., the country where the controlling company's head office is and the date of the acquisition. Information about the nationality of shareholders is not available.
	Internal Drainage Boards in England have been established in areas of special drainage needs. They are public statutory bodies.
	
		
			 Water and sewerage undertakers Ultimate holding company and where headquarters is based Date of acquisition 
		
		
			 Thames Water Utilities Ltd. Thames Water Aqua Holdings GmbH (RWE AG) (Germany) November 2000 
			 Wessex Water Services Limited YTL Power Berhad (Malaysia) May 2002 
		
	
	
		
			 Water only undertakers Ultimate holding company and where headquarters is based Date of acquisition 
		
		
			 Cambridge Water plc. Union Electricia Fenosa SA (Spain) January 2004 
			 Folkestone and Dover Water Services Ltd. Veolia Environment (France) February 2003 
			 Tendring Hundred Water Services Ltd. Veolia Environment(France) Owned since before 1989 
			 South East Water plc. Macquarie Bank Ltd. (Australia) October 2003 
			 Three Valleys Water Services plc. Veolia Environment (France) Owned since before 1989

NORTHERN IRELAND

National Sports Stadium

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Sports Council about a new national sports stadium for Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Support remains in principle for a national stadium but this must be assessed on the grounds of need, sustainability and on the involvement of a number of sports. I am able to confirm that there are on-going discussions with the Sports Council of Northern Ireland about a new national sports stadium. The sports council is also in touch with the governing bodies of the main sports to assess their willingness to use a national stadium bearing in mind that these sports are at various stages in planning for their future facility needs.

Infrastructure Investment

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase investment in infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: Yesterday I launched the Northern Ireland Priorities and Budget 2004–06, copies of which have been placed in the Library. This Document shows planned expenditure on capital investment will rise by 40 per cent. over the next two years.

Educational Attainment

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to improve educational attainment in disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The Government has instituted a wide range of measures to improve educational outcomes among children, young people and adults in disadvantaged areas. These include the School Support Programme, Group 1 schools, curriculum flexibility for work-related learning at Key Stage 4, and a number of Further Education initiatives.
	I have also recently announced the creation of Education Action Zones aimed at tackling the root causes of educational failure within communities. All these initiatives contribute to the overarching policy of Targeting Social Need.

Skills Base

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on Government action to develop essential skills in Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The Essential Skills for Living Strategy and Action Plan was launched in October 2002. Our aim is to support 25,000 adults in Northern Ireland to improve their literacy and numeracy skills by 2005. In the first year 6,500 learners were supported and we are on track to meet our target of supporting a further 8,000 learners by March 2004.

Good Friday Agreement

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the review of the Good Friday Agreement will commence.

Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Older People (Security)

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on measures to improve the security of older people in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: The Government is committed to improving security for older people in Northern Ireland. A community safety strategy for older people will be issued for consultation in February 2004 supplemented by practical action through the Stay safe Stay secure campaign launched October 2003 and work in other agencies including the police.

Devolved Government

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made towards the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Paul Murphy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Devolved Government

Iain Luke: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress had been made since the November elections to create a working Northern Ireland Executive.

Paul Murphy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Peace Process

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the peace process following the elections of the November 2003.

Paul Murphy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael).

Broadband

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase investment in the broadband infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment is actively pursuing 100 per cent. broadband coverage across Northern Ireland by December 2005 through the award of a major contract for the provision of broadband services.
	Tenders are at the final evaluation stage and an announcement on the award of the contract is planned for early this year.

Drug Smuggling

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the success of measures to interdict the smuggling of drugs into Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The PSNI has had unprecedented success this year in preventing the importation of drugs into Northern Ireland. Drugs Squad officers have had their most successful year to date and I congratulate them for their work.
	Some of the recent successes include the seizure of some £1 million worth of cocaine in Northern Ireland in October that led directly to the seizure of over £7 million in ecstasy tablets in Amsterdam by Dutch police. £2 million of cannabis was seized in August—the largest ever seizure of the drug in Northern Ireland and in September police officers seized cannabis resin with an estimated street value of £250,000 in Belfast.
	This high level of seizures and arrests demonstrates the PSNI's and the Organised Crime Task Force's ongoing commitment and effectiveness in tackling this problem.

TRANSPORT

Airports (Scotland)

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the timescale for the construction of rail links to (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh airports.

Tony McNulty: The Department has held extensive discussions with the Scottish Executive on both proposals and has been kept informed of progress on the ongoing feasibility work.

Airports (Scotland)

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from environmental groups on the proposed expansion of Scottish airports.

Tony McNulty: Environmental groups submitted 8 responses to the consultation document "The Future Development of Air Transport in the UK: Scotland". Since the consultation ended on 30 June 2003, we have received no further representations from such groups on the proposed expansion of Scottish airports.

British Charter Airlines (Kazakhstan)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the reasons for the banning of British charter airlines from operating in Kazakhstan; what representations he has made on their behalf to the Kazakh Government; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Until December 2003, two UK registered airlines were operating one charter service per week to Atyrau and Uralsk in Western Kazakhstan on contract to oil and gas companies active in the region.
	In early December 2003 that permission was revoked. The Kazakh authorities subsequently explained that they will no longer grant permission for these services because the new Kazakh airline, Air Astana, has now started services from Uralsk and Atyrau to Western Europe.
	We are concerned that permission for these flights was terminated without due process and at very short notice, with great inconvenience to passengers and to the financial detriment of UK airlines. We are also concerned that UK airlines are being denied the opportunity to offer a competing service. We will pursue this issue further with the Kazakh authorities.

British Charter Airlines (Kazakhstan)

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has made to the Kazakhstan Government regarding the prevention of UK charter flights from landing in Uralsk and Atyrau.

Tony McNulty: Until December 2003, two UK registered airlines were operating one charter service per week to Atyrau and Uralsk in Western Kazakhstan on contract to oil and gas companies active in the region.
	In early December 2003 that permission was revoked. The Kazakh authorities subsequently explained that they will no longer grant permission for these services because the new Kazakh airline, Air Astana, has now started services from Uralsk and Atyrau to Western Europe.
	We are concerned that permission for these flights was terminated without due process and at very short notice, with great inconvenience to passengers and to the financial detriment of UK airlines. We are also concerned that UK airlines are being denied the opportunity to offer a competing service. We will pursue this issue further with the Kazakh authorities.

Deep Vein Thrombosis

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the United States Transport Security Administration Directive issued on 24 December 2003 on the Government's advice to air travellers on how to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis during long haul flights.

Tony McNulty: The Directive aims to prevent people congregating on board flights to the United States for security reasons. The Directive has no impact on the Government's advice on deep vein thrombosis, which encourages passengers to move their feet around or, if possible, to get up and walk around at intervals.

M60 (Flooding)

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on (a) the causes of flooding on the M60 between Denton and Hollinwood and (b) progress in addressing the causes.

David Jamieson: Areas of water seepage at a number of locations on the M60 have been identified. These areas have been inspected and testing of the road material has taken place. The Highways Agency are awaiting the results of spray and drainage investigations. These results together will be used to identify remedial works that may be necessary.
	In the meantime, warning signs have been placed on part of the Denton-Middleton section of the M60 motorway to alert drivers to the possibility of excess water on the carriageway.

Railway Schemes

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the railway schemes being evaluated by his Department which involve (a) the laying of additional miles of track and (b) the re-opening of disused rail routes; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The evaluation of such schemes is a matter for the Strategic Rail Authority, who set out their project portfolio in their Strategic Plan. A copy of the latest edition, published last year, is in the Library of the House.

Road Safety

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers local authorities have to erect 30 mph repeater signs on single carriageway roads with street lights.

David Jamieson: Local authorities have no powers to erect 30 mph speed limit repeater signs on street lit roads as current legislation strictly prohibits it.

Road Safety

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate how many deaths there have been because of (a) dangerous driving, (b) driving under the influence of illegal drugs and (c) driving under the influence of alcohol in (i) Cambridgeshire and (ii) Huntingdon in each year since 2000.

David Jamieson: The information is not available.

Rural Bus Services

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to prevent over-crowding on scheduled bus services taking pupils to school in rural areas; and if he will end the three for two rule.

David Jamieson: Before a bus enters into service it is a requirement, under regulation 8 of the Public Service Vehicles (Carrying Capacity) Regulations 1984, that it has to be marked with the number of passengers, both standees and seated that it may safely carry. Both children and adults are considered as the same within these regulations. If these numbers are exceeded the vehicle would be deemed as operating illegally and then it becomes a matter for the enforcement agencies to pursue.
	Currently there are no plans to abolish the three for two rule.

Street Works

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is of the cost to business of highway authority street works.

David Jamieson: The Department does not hold figures of the costs to business of highway authority works. However, it is important to minimise the disruption caused by works in the street, regardless of whether they are carried out by utility companies or by highway authorities, and this is reflected in the range of measures included in the Traffic Management Bill.

Vehicle Excise Duty

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes have been made to the enforcement of penalties for failure to display an up-to-date vehicle excise duty disc; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 12 January 2004
	There are no changes to the penalties for the offence of failure to display a valid vehicle licence. Failure to display is normally enforced by fixed penalty.
	A number of changes are being introduced to strengthen the enforcement of the requirement to license a vehicle (or to make a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) if a vehicle is being kept off the road). The registered keeper of a vehicle for which a licence or SORN has not been renewed one month after expiry is now liable for a penalty of £80 (reduced to £40 if paid within 28 days of receiving the penalty notice). To ensure that vehicle keepers have sufficient notice to check that their vehicles are properly licensed, extensive publicity is being given to the changes including information leaflets to all registered keepers during the final month of licence validity. The first penalty notices are likely to be issued in March, in respect of vehicles for which licences have not been renewed from 1 January 2004.
	In the most serious cases, vehicle keepers can also be prosecuted for the new offence of being the keeper of an unlicensed vehicle.

Vehicles Inspectorate

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles have been stopped for roadside checks by the Vehicles Inspectorate in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many (a) were found to have vehicle faults and (b) were motor cars or other non-commercial vehicles.

Kim Howells: The number of vehicles stopped at the roadside by the Vehicle Inspectorate (now the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) in 2002–03 and the percentage found to have roadworthiness faults are shown in the following tables. Further information and statistical analysis of the agency's work can be found in the Vehicle Inspectorate's Effectiveness Report 2002–03, a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	
		Spot checks carried out by the Vehicle Inspectorate in 2002–2003
		
			   Prohibition Rate(1) (%) 
			 Vehicle Category Number of vehicles checked Immediate prohibitions(2) Delayed prohibitions(3)  
		
		
			 HGV Motor Vehicles(4) 64,373 9.2 12.7 
			 HGV Trailers 21,225 9.4 16.6 
			 HGV emissions checks 7,748 0.1 0.7 
			 PSV vehicles(4) 20,287 6.9 8.2 
			 PSV emissions checks 5,447 0.05 0.45 
		
	
	(1) Only one prohibition notice is issued per vehicle although it may contain a list of defects/offences where more than one has been found. The most serious defect/offence determines whether an immediate or delayed prohibition is issued.
	(2) Immediate prohibition rate relates to all vehicles (including foreign vehicles).
	(3) Delayed prohibition rate excludes checks on foreign vehicles. The Foreign Vehicles Act does not provide for the issue of delayed prohibitions to foreign vehicles.
	(4) Excludes emissions only checks, but includes foreign vehicles.
	
		Results of light vehicle roadside roadworthiness checks 
		
			 Vehicle category Number examined Number prohibited Prohibition rate (%) 
		
		
			  
			  
			 Cars 4,942 2,223 45 
			 Taxis and private hire cars 6,478 1,593 24.6 
			 Non-testable vehicles(5) 2,836 1,666 58.7 
			 Light Goods Vehicles 16,498 6,061 36.7 
		
	
	(5) Non-testable vehicles include mobile cranes, diggers and non-HGV trailers
	
		Results of light vehicle spot checks for emissions
		
			   Prohibition rate (%) 
			 Vehicle category Number examined Petrol Engine Diesel Engine 
		
		
			 Cars 58,044 6.1 3.1 
			 Taxis and private hire cars 2,374 5.1 6.5 
			 Light Goods Vehicles 10,089 7.7 3.7

WALES

Departmental Advertising

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total expenditure on (a) information campaigns and (b) advertising was for his Department in each year since 1997.

Peter Hain: My department has run no television, newspaper, radio advertising or any other kind of promotional campaign since its creation in July 1999. It has no agencies or departmental public bodies within its responsibilities. We are not responsible for campaigns that may be run by the National Assembly or other Government Departments in Wales.

Give as You Earn Scheme

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and what percentage of staff in his Department contribute to a charity through the Give as You Earn scheme; how much money is donated to charity per month by staff in his Department through the scheme; and what steps he is taking to encourage greater participation in the scheme by staff in his Department.

Don Touhig: The Give as You Earn scheme is available to Wales Office staff and is regularly drawn to their attention. No staff currently contribute to charity through the scheme.
	This does not fully reflect the charitable activities of Wales Office staff.

Security Passes

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in his Department in the last 12 months.

Peter Hain: None.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Guantanamo Bay

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the US Government since the state visit of President Bush in connection with the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: holding answer 8 January 2004
	Since the recent visit of President Bush to the UK, the position of the British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay has continued to be the subject of discussions between the government and the US administration. We hope to resolve the situation soon.

Israel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is his policy to seek to persuade Israel to divest itself of all its weapons of mass destruction.

Mike O'Brien: The UK government has consistently urged Israel to clarify its nuclear status by acceding to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state, and signing a full-scope safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We urge Israel to ratify both the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. The UK has also consistently supported UN Resolutions calling for the establishment of a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction. That zone would include Israel.

Pakistan

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his Department's policy regarding the return of Pakistan to full membership of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Mike O'Brien: The United Kingdom wants to see Pakistan readmitted to the Councils of the Commonwealth, including to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
	However, it is the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that will make a decision whether to recommend to Commonwealth Heads of Government that Pakistan should be readmitted on the basis of its return to democracy. The UK is not a member of CMAG, but the UK Government believes that the recent agreement between the Pakistani Government and opposition over the country's constitution and role of parliament marks an important step in the country's transition to full democracy. We hope this will facilitate progress on joining the full Councils of the Commonwealth.

Thailand

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the advice given to UK visitors to Thailand.

Mike O'Brien: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not advise against travel to Thailand. The vast majority of visits to Thailand are trouble-free. But due to a general threat to British and other Western targets from terrorism in South East Asia, including Thailand, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises that travellers should be particularly vigilant in public places, including tourist sites. It also advises travellers to watch out for crimes of opportunity and against the possession of even small quantities of drugs. The full Travel Advice for Thailand can be viewed on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at www.fco.gov.uk.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Education (Hemsworth)

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the percentage of the population of Hemsworth constituency who have NVQ levels (a) 1, (b) 2 and (c) 3.

Alan Johnson: The following table shows analysis of the qualification levels of the working age 1 population in the parliamentary constituency of Hemsworth. This is presented alongside England average data for comparison. Data comes from the Local Labour Force Survey for 2001–02.
	1 Working age population refers to males aged 16–64 and females aged 16–59.
	
		Percentage
		
			 Qualification level Hemsworth England  
		
		
			 NVQ 4 and above 16.2 23.5 
			 NVQ 3 12.6 14.8 
			 Trade Apprenticeships 9.3 7.0 
			 NVQ 2 15.4 18.1 
			 Below NVQ Level 2 21.3 20.5 
			 No qualifications 25.3 16.0

Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the effect on equality of opportunity for students of competition between higher education institutions on price.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 12 January 2004
	In his statement to the House on student support in higher education on 8 January my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills announced a package of support the purpose of which is to ensure that no student from a poor background would be worse off as a result of proposals in the Higher Education Bill, whichever university they attend and whatever the fee charged for the course. Higher Education institutions wishing to charge higher fees will have to enter into an access agreement with the Office for Fair Access. These access agreements will set out the measures that institutions will take to ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not deterred from higher education because of higher fees. My right hon. Friend also said that the Government would establish an independent review, working with the Office for Fair Access, to report to the House on the impact of variable fees, based upon the first three years of their operation.

Higher Education

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time students are enrolled on courses at higher education institutions in the north-west.

Alan Johnson: The available information is given in the table.
	
		All higher education enrolments(6),(7)at north-west higher education institutions, 2001–02
		
			 Institution region Full-time Part-time Total 
		
		
			 North West GOR(8) 104,944 45,037 149,981 
			 Total England(9) 1,003,229 591,138 1,594,367 
		
	
	(6) Snapshot as at 1 December.
	(7) Includes students from both home and overseas domiciles and covers enrolments to all levels of higher education course.
	(8) Government Office Region.
	(9) Including higher education institutions in the north-west and the Open University.
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Student Drop-out Rate

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the most recent figures are for the drop-out rate for English university students is in their (a) 1st year of study, (b) 2nd year of study, (c) 3rd year of study and (d) further years of study.

Alan Johnson: The available information on the non-continuation of students beyond the first year in each university, and the projected course non-completion rate in each university is contained in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK", published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, a copy of which is available from the House Library. The latest edition, published in December 2003, gives figures for students starting full-time degree courses in the United Kingdom in 2000/01. Table 3 shows that 9 per cent. of students did not continue beyond the first year, and that the projected non-completion rate over the whole course was 16 per cent.
	No data are held covering those students who drop out of their course after two or three years. Nationally, the non-completion rate has remained broadly the same since 1991/92, a period of considerable expansion of student numbers.
	Figures published in 2003 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the UK has one of the lowest non-completion rates among OECD countries.

Universities

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people domiciled in (a) Scotland, (b) the City of Edinburgh local authority area and (c) the Edinburgh West parliamentary constituency are attending a (i) English and (ii) Welsh university.

Alan Johnson: Data for students who enter HE are not collated centrally by constituency. The latest available data are shown in the following table.
	
		Domicile of student by location of institution 2001/02
		
			  Location of higher education institution 
			 Domicile England Wales 
		
		
			 Scotland 26,456 672 
			 City of Edinburgh 3,798 90 
		
	
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Universities

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much income the university sector has earned from business in each year since 1997, broken down by university.

Alan Johnson: Details of the income of higher education institutions by source is published annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in "Resources of Higher Education Institutions", copies of which are available in the House Library. Table 3 shows separately for each higher education institution income from UK industry, commerce and public corporations, although this does not include income from intellectual property rights which are shown separately in Table 4.

Universities

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people from Cunninghame, South enrolled to study at a university in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; and how many failed to complete their course.

Alan Johnson: Enrolment figures at constituency level are not currently available. However, higher education enrolment figures from the county of North Ayrshire for the most recent three years are given in the table.
	
		HE enrolments from North Ayrshire
		
			 Academic year Enrolments 
		
		
			 1999/00 3,405 
			 2000/01 3,366 
			 2001/02 3,469 
		
	
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
	Non-completion rates are published annually by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in 'Performance Indicators in Higher Education' and cover home domiciled students starting full-time first degree courses. The latest figure covers students starting courses in 2000/01, shows that non-completion rates in the UK are 16 per cent. HEFCE do not publish non-completion rates by any geographical breakdown.

University Tuition Fees

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his estimate is of annual net income to (a) Russell Group and (b) other universities from the proposed tuition fees after all costs and concessions are taken into account.

Alan Johnson: Information on the costs and benefits associated with the proposal in the Higher Education Bill to allow universities to set their own tuition fees is contained in the Regulatory Impact Assessment published on 8 January alongside the Bill. The Regulatory Impact Assessment illustrates the income from additional fees in different scenarios. Because of the nature of a variable scheme, the costs vary greatly according to the decisions that higher education institutions take, and they cannot be estimated precisely at this stage. The Regulatory Impact Assessment does not distinguish between individual universities. Copies of the Regulatory Impact Assessment were placed in the Library of the House; it is also available on the Department for Education and Skills website.

PRIME MINISTER

Social Behaviour

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what action the Government have taken to improve social behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: We have taken a number of measures to improve social behaviour. These include introducing citizenship education into primary schools in 2000 and making citizenship education a statutory part of the secondary school National Curriculum in September 2002. We have also tackled the problem of anti-social behaviour through our introduction of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act.

Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister when he last met the Chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission to discuss its work.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 16 May 2003, Official Report, column 439W.

Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 18 December 2003, Official Report, column 1076W, on People's Peers, whether he is now in a position to invite the House of Lords Appointments Commission to recommend names for the second round of People's Peers.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to my previous answer.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum/Immigration

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been taken into care as a result of paragraph 1 of schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and whether the Home Department have ever referred the possible placing of a child into care to any local authority social services authority.

Beverley Hughes: No children have been taken into care as a result of the operation of paragraph 1 of Schedule 3; nor have the Home Office referred the possible placing of a child into care to any local authority Social Services authority in connection with this legislation.

Asylum/Immigration

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers with children are facing removal from the United Kingdom.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 15 December 2003
	The information requested is unavailable, partly because it is not possible to determine the number of unsuccessful asylum seekers who leave the United Kingdom voluntarily without informing the Immigration Service of their departure.
	Information on asylum applications, decisions, appeals and removals is published regularly on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum/Immigration

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum cases and (b) immigration cases were heard by (i) the Court of Appeal and (ii) the House of Lords in the latest year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 15 December 2003
	During the period from 1 October 2002 to 30 September 2003, nine immigration cases were heard by the Court of Appeal (five asylum cases and four non-asylum) and four cases were heard by the House of Lords (three asylum cases and one non-asylum).
	Information on these cases can be obtained from the website: http://www.lawreports.co.uk

Asylum/Immigration

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy concerning the best interests of children of asylum seekers with respect to (a) removal centres and (b) other circumstances for which he has jurisdiction.

Beverley Hughes: The best interests of children of asylum seekers will always be a key consideration in all dealings the Immigration and Nationality Directorate has with asylum-seeking families .
	With respect to removal centres, rule 11 (3) of the Detention Centre Rules 2001 requires removal centre operators to provide everything reasonably necessary for detained persons' protection, safety and well-being and for the maintenance and care of infants and children.
	Children who are accommodated in a removal centre as part of a family group are not separated from their parents or siblings and so are able to receive familial comfort and emotional support. Provision is made to ensure that they are safe; they are able to eat well; they are accommodated in quiet, warm bedrooms; they are occupied during the day; they have access to the fresh air, outside play areas, and are able to undertake physical exercise; they also have access to an excellent healthcare facility.
	In the community, local authorities in the UK have duties towards all children in need, including the children of asylum seekers and failed asylum seekers.

Asylum/Immigration

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were made asking for leave to appeal to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and of these, how many were granted leave.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 8 December 2003
	Data on the number of appeals received and determined by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, as well as the outcome from Tribunal hearings, in each of the last five years, are given in the following table. The latter data does not necessarily correspond to the number of applications for leave to appeal in any given year.
	Information on how many applications for leave to appeal to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal were granted is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Statistics on appeals to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal are published annually. The latest publication, "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2002", is available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Asylum Appeals: Further appeals to the Tribunal, decisions, and the outcome of Tribunal Hearings, excluding dependants, 1994 to 2002(10) -- Number of principal appellants
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002(11) 
		
		
			 Applications for leave to appeal to the Tribunal(12)  
			 Applications 10,910 8,635 6,020 15,540 25,600 
			 Decisions (13)10,315 9,575 5,490 13,540 22,825 
			   
			 Appeals to the Tribunal3  
			 Received (13)1,775 2,135 1,615 3,860 6,920 
			 Determined 1,090 1,790 2,635 3,190 5,565 
			   
			 Outcome of Tribunal Hearings3  
			 Allowed (13)— — 815 475 620 
			 Dismissed — — 1,385 1,140 2,015 
			 Withdrawn — — 220 150 225 
			 Remitted to adjudicators for further consideration — — 215 1,430 2,700 
		
	
	(10) Figures rounded to the nearest five. Numbers might not add up due to rounding.
	(11) Provisional figures.
	(12) Figures based on data supplied by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Decisions and determinations do not necessarily correspond to applications and appeals received in any given year.
	(13) Revised figures.

Asylum/Immigration

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were made by his Department asking for leave to appeal to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and, of these, how many were granted leave.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 8 December 2003
	The information requested is not available because data on the number of applications for leave to appeal to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal are not separately compiled in relation to whom the appeal is sought by and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The latest available data on total applications for leave to appeal to the Tribunal and the outcomes from hearings at the Tribunal in each of the last five years are given in the following table. The table shows the total number of applications and decisions for leave to appeal to the Tribunal, the number of appeals received and determined and the outcomes of Tribunal hearings broken down by appellant and Secretary of State. Decisions and determinations do not necessarily correspond to applications and appeals in any given year.
	Statistics on appeals to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal are published annually. The latest publication, "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2002", is available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Asylum Appeals: Further appeals to the Tribunal, decisions, and the outcome of Tribunal Hearings, excluding dependants, 1994 to 2002(14) -- Number of principal appellants
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002(15) 
		
		
			 Applications for leave to appeal to the Tribunal(16)  
			 Applications 10,910 8,635 6,020 15,540 25,600 
			 Decisions (17)10,315 9,575 5,490 13,540 22,825 
			   
			 Appeals to the Tribunal3  
			 Received (17)1,775 2,135 1,615 3,860 6,920 
			 Determined 1,090 1,790 2,635 3,190 5,565 
			   
			 Outcome of Tribunal Hearings3  
			 Allowed (17)— — 815 475 620 
			 Dismissed — — 1,385 1,140 2,015 
			 Withdrawn — — 220 150 225 
			 Remitted to adjudicators for further consideration — — 215 1,430 2,700 
		
	
	(14) Figures rounded to the nearest five. Numbers might not add up due to rounding.
	(15) Provisional figures.
	(16) Figures based on data supplied by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Decisions and determinations do not necessarily correspond to applications and appeals received in any given year.
	(17) Revised figures.
	
		Outcome of Tribunal Hearings(18) -- Number of principal appellants
		
			  Appellant Secretary of State 
			  Allowed Dismissed Withdrawn Allowed Dismissed Withdrawn 
		
		
			 1998 — — — — — — 
			 1999 — — — — — — 
			 2000 650 1,225 185 170 165 35 
			 2001 315 1,020 125 160 120 25 
			 2002(19) 410 1,880 210 215 130 15 
		
	
	(18) Figures supplied by the Presenting Officers Unit. Figures for October–December 1999 are based on data for November-December.
	(19) Provisional figures.

Asylum/Immigration

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of families likely to be affected by Clause 7 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill.

Beverley Hughes: Clause 7 will only affect failed asylum seekers and their families who refuse to take advantage of voluntary return arrangements, or to put themselves in a position to do so, without good cause. The precise number who have support stopped will depend upon the decisions made by individual families.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason he has not yet replied to the letter sent to him dated 18 September 2003 by the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Sattler.

David Blunkett: I replied to the right hon. Member on 8 January 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 4 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to K.Akhtar.

David Blunkett: I replied to the right hon. Member on 12 January 2004.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 30 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs.J.Ferns.

David Blunkett: I responded to the right hon. Member on 16 December 2003.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 4 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Jamie Sanderson.

David Blunkett: I responded to the right hon. Member on 31 December 2003.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Kwok Hung Lam.

David Blunkett: I responded to the right hon. Member on 23 December 2003.

Drug Misuse

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of those convicted of drug misuse offences who had previously been in local authority care in each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: No figures are available on the proportion of those convicted of drug misuse offences that have previously been in local authority care.

Firearm Offences

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to reduce the number of firearm offences.

Caroline Flint: Our developing programme to tackle gun crime includes:
	tackling the links to drug supply and crime;
	reducing the supply and availability of firearms;
	effective police operations to drive down firearm offences;
	tough laws and effective enforcement; and
	engaging the worst affected communities to address the underlying gun culture.
	We are working closely with the police and other agencies to ensure that the lessons learned from their experience in tackling gun crime are built upon. A detailed action plan to keep action to tackle gun crime at the forefront of the police agenda has been developed and is being implemented.
	In addition, the National Firearms Forensic Intelligence Database, launched on 25 November 2003, will provide a central database of seized weapons and help trace guns used in crimes and improve detection.
	We are also engaging with communities to help steer young people away from gun crime and gun culture. We are:
	providing support for the Disarm Trust, which is providing direct support for community groups working to reduce gun crime, supporting victims of gun crime and providing help for witnesses;
	allocating £1.2 million of recovered assets receipts to help tackle gun crime; and
	running a major event on 19 to 20 January 2004, which will bring together community representatives, activists, voluntary groups and young people, leading to a sustained community-focused campaign against gun crime and gun culture.
	This action will be supported by the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which will see a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment for possession or distribution of prohibited weapons or ammunition, and by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, which will raise the age limit to 17 for owning air weapons, ban the possession of air weapons and imitations in public without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, and ban the possession, sale and import of self contained air cartridge weapons.

Immigration Appeals

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases were heard by Immigration Appellate Authority adjudicators in the last 12 months; and in how many cases an appeal was taken to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.

Beverley Hughes: The number of cases heard by Immigration Appellate Authority adjudicators, for the latest 12-month period for which data are available, are given in the following table. Information on the number of those cases that were taken to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal following successful applications for leave to appeal to the Tribunal are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files.
	Statistics on the number of asylum appeals heard by the Immigration Appellate Authority are published quarterly. The most recent publication covering the third quarter of 2003 is now available from the Library of the House or on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website athttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Asylum Appeals determined by adjudicators of the Immigration Appellate Authority, excluding dependants(20) -- Number of principal appellants
		
			Appeals determined by adjudicators 
			 Allowed(21) Dismissed (21) Withdrawn(21) 
			  Appeals received by the Home Office(22),(23) Appeals received by the IAA(24) Total determined (23) Total As % of total determined Total As % of total determined Total As % of total determined 
		
		
			  
			  
			 2003  
			 01 (21)12,600 18,090 20,595 3,480 17 16,445 80 670 3  
			 Q2 (21)10,800 17,835 19,345 4,060 21 14,875 77 415 2  
			 Q3 (21)10,900 18,330 21,500 4,270 20 16,805 78 420 2  
			  Latest 12 months  
			 October 4,965 4,475 5,980 1,170 20 4,620 77 190 3  
			 November 3,740 6,080 5,585 1,185 21 4,270 76 130 2  
			 December 3,575 6,110 5,050 960 19 3,920 78 170 3  
			 January (21)3,400 6,015 7,210 1,265 18 5,690 79 255 4  
			 February (21)4,000 6,025 6,545 975 15 5,350 82 220 3  
			 March (21)5,200 6,045 6,840 1,235 18 5,405 79 200 3  
			 April (21)3,700 5,825 7,010 1,445 21 5,455 78 110 2  
			 May (21)3,400 6,025 6,035 1,265 21 4,655 77 115 2  
			 June (21)3,600 5,985 6,300 1,345 21 4,765 76 190 3  
			 July (21)4,100 6,005 8,195 1,655 20 6,375 78 165 2  
			 August (21)3,000 6,080 6,740 1,320 20 5,275 78 145 2  
			 September (21)3,700 6,240 6,565 1,295 20 5,155 79 110 2  
			 Total (21)46,485 70,920 78,050 15,130 19 60,930 78 1,995 3  
		
	
	(20) Provisional figures rounded to the nearest five (other than percentages). Numbers might not add up due to rounding.
	(21) Based on data supplied from the Presenting Officers Unit within the Home Office.
	(22) Data are based on manual counts of data received in Appeals Support Section (ASS) of the Home Office. Some cases are received elsewhere in the Home Office before being forwarded to ASS and so may be counted in a later month than when they arrived in the Home Office.
	(23) Estimate. Figures rounded to the nearest hundred, and subject to later revision.
	(24) Based on information supplied by the Lord Chancellor's Department. Determinations do not necessarily relate to appeals received in the same period.

Merseyside Crime Initiative Unit

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the findings were of the Diversity Monitoring Project established in October 2001 to examine Merseyside Crown Prosecution Service files for racial bias in decision-making.

Harriet Harman: I have been asked to reply.
	The question has been transferred to me for reply as the Law Officers have responsibility for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
	The findings of the Diversity Monitoring Project, an independent study into racial or gender bias in the decision making processes of the CPS, were published in the executive summary report 'Race for Justice' on 21 October 2003. The full report will be available by the end of March 2004.
	12,913 CPS files were examined to establish if race or gender bias or discrimination occurred in the prosecution process. Merseyside was one of 10 CPS areas whose files were examined by the researchers. The files were taken randomly from a wide geographical spread of areas to ensure a representative sample. The report sets out the aggregated findings from the 10 area sample and does not set out findings for individual areas.
	The report outlines nine recommendations, applicable to the whole organisation, which have been accepted by CPS and which they have developed an action plan to implement.

Prison Service

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the Prison Service has to introduce a public interest immunity policy.

Paul Goggins: There are no plans to introduce a policy specific to the Prison Service. Public interest immunity is a rule of evidence and its application is no different for Prison Service business than for any other business of Government.
	The Secretary of State will continue to seek public interest immunity where he considers that material which is relevant in civil or criminal proceedings should not be disclosed because the harm to the public interest that would arise from its disclosure outweighs the harm to the interests of justice that might arise from not disclosing it in those proceedings. It is always for the court to decide whether the Secretary of State's claim to public interest immunity should be upheld.

Wetherby Young Offenders Institution

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the cost per prisoner place at Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Wetherby was in (a) 1998–99 and (b) 2002–03;
	(2)  what the actual cost per prisoner at Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Wetherby was in (a) 1998–99 and (b) 2002–03.

Paul Goggins: The cost per prison place and cost per prisoner at Her Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Wetherby for the years 1998–99 and 2002–03 are given in the table.
	
		
			  Cost per prisoner place Cost per prisoner 
		
		
			 1998–99 £18,745 £20,827 
			 2002–03 28,226 29,661 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures for 1998–99 are expressed in cash terms, while those for 2002–03 are expressed in resource terms. As such, they are not directly comparable given the change in the accounting basis, but an alternative figure for 2002–03 that is broadly comparable with the 1998–99 figures would be £26,705 for the cost per prisoner place and £28,029 for the cost per prisoner.

DEFENCE

Atlantic Crusader

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department have chartered the Atlantic Crusader ship.

Adam Ingram: The Atlantic Crusader is currently chartered to the Ministry of Defence and is conducting a Falkland Island re-supply voyage.

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the pathogens that the United Kingdom will not export as a signatory of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

Nigel Griffiths: I have been asked to reply.
	A list of the pathogens controlled for export from the UK is contained in Council Regulation (EC) No 1334/2000, as amended (available from: http://www.dti.gov.uk/export.control/pdfs/1159 annex1.pdf). There is no embargo on the export of pathogens from the UK. All licence applications to export these pathogens from the UK to destinations outside the EU are considered on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.

Civil Contingency Reaction Force

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact the reduction in training days will have on the readiness of the Civil Contingency Reaction Force; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial statement I gave on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 18WS. The reduction in training days will not affect readiness of the 14 Civil Contingency Reaction Forces.

Demobilised Reservists

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support is available to recently demobilised reservists who suffer stress related illnesses related to the difficulty of readjusting to civilian life.[R]

Ivor Caplin: The MOD and Department of Health officials are working together to maximise the delivery of mental health services to all Veterans. Those reservists who deployed to Iraq during OP TELIC can be seen at the Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme (GVMAP) on referral by their doctor. Where appropriate, the Programme will refer them to a country-wide network of specialist psychiatrists and psychologists for expert assessment and diagnosis. The GVMAP pays for this, including the patient's travel costs.
	In addition, at the end of each deployment all personnel, including reservists, undergo a period of "normalisation" as a measure to minimise the possibility of stress related disorders. They also receive a presentation about post traumatic stress reactions and are given information leaflets, covering post traumatic stress reactions and the problems which may be encountered on returning home. Reservists will also be provided with details of service related charities such as Combat Stress, SSAFA and the RBL.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what plans he has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible relocation of staff in his Department to the regions; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in his Department to North Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of re-location of staff to North Staffordshire; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W, by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Eurofighter Typhoon

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been conducted to ascertain the change in unit cost of Eurofighter Typhoon should the third tranche of the original order not be purchased; what savings could be expected from the cancellation of the third tranche; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 154W; the situation remains the same.

Iraq

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of British troops are engaged in security duties for American commercial and business interests in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: None.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the anti-malarial treatment mefloquine hydrochloride has been issued to UK forces serving in Iraq.

Ivor Caplin: The anti-malarial treatment mefloquine hydrochloride was not issued to United Kingdom forces serving in Iraq. The stated malarial prophylaxis for Iraq is Chloroquine/Paludrine.

Iraq

Helen Liddell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the roulement of UK forces in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 18 November 2003, Official Report, column 755W, to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor).

Medical Supplies Agency

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures are in place to ensure that suitably qualified personnel are used by military units in the ordering, delivery, storage and use of materials, equipment, drugs and other medical items; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: Training is provided prior to taking up post and through continuous personal development to ensure that all personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence in medical supply and storage are suitably qualified. Medical personnel who control the use of medical materiel and equipment are also appropriately trained.

MOD Police Pensions

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many persons in receipt of a pension for the MOD police were previously employed in the armed forces without any break in employment service.

Ivor Caplin: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Scottish Regiments

Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the (a) Black Watch, (b) King's Own Scottish Borderers and (c) Royal Scots regiments.

Adam Ingram: There are currently no plans regarding the future of any of these Regiments. The Defence White Paper published last month provides the policy context for shaping the structure of our armed forces. Subsequently, the details of individual systems and units within that structure will need to be developed, but presently no decisions have been taken.

Service Children's Education

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions have taken place between his Department, the Department for Education and Skills and the Treasury regarding the funding of local education authority schools which have a significant number of pupils from service families.

Ivor Caplin: Funding of local education authority schools is a matter for the Department for Education and Skills and the relevant departments in the devolved Administrations. We have frequent contact with the Department for Education and Skills to discuss the issues faced by schools with children from the Service population and ensure that the provision meets their educational requirements.

Service Children's Education

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the number of children from service families being educated in local education authority-maintained schools.

Ivor Caplin: We do not hold statistics on the type of school attended by dependent children from service families. However, we estimate that there are between 80,000 and 100,000 attending state schools in the UK.

Service Pensions

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what date he expects work on illustrative models for the proposed armed forces pensions early departure scheme to be completed; and when he will publish the models.

Ivor Caplin: Work on the detailed design of the new Early Departure Payment (EDP) payments model is now close to being finalised. I will provide further information on our plans shortly.

Type-45 Destroyers

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the in-service dates are for each of the Type 45 Destroyers.

Adam Ingram: Six Type 45 Destroyers are currently on order. The currently approved in service date for the First of Class, HMS Daring, is November 2007, although this date is currently under review. The remaining ships are planned to enter service at intervals up to the end of 2011.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on his Office's ability to meet its policy objectives.

Douglas Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury gave her on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many staff in his Office work in (a) the West Midlands and (b) North Staffordshire.

Douglas Alexander: As at 2 January 2004, there were 20 staff working in the West Midlands and no staff working (full-time equivalents) in the North Staffordshire area.

Duchy of Lancaster

Nigel Evans: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the total value is of Duchy grants that have been disbursed to the north west in the last year.

Douglas Alexander: I am not a Trustee of the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund. However, the Secretary of the Fund has provided the following information :
	Grants made from the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund during the financial year ending 31 March 2003 amounted to £231,277.

Government Information and Communication Service

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer of 6 January 2004, Official Report, column 221W, on Government Information and Communication Service, if he will break down the total sum quoted by budget head; and what the figures were for each year from 1996.

Douglas Alexander: Financial allocations to the GICS centre in 2003–04 consist of:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Head of Profession (including secretariat) 262 
			 Development centre (recruitment and career & professional development for members) 808 
			 Operations Unit (cross-cutting emergency communications) 1,388 
			 Total 2,458 
		
	
	Allocations to the GICS and its predecessors (the Information Officer Management Unit and the Government Information Service) were:
	
		
			  Total (£000) 
		
		
			 1996–97 607 
			 1997–98 575 
			 1998–99 680 
			 1999–2000 815 
			 2000–01 962 
			 2001–02 1,888 
			 2002–03 4,079 
			 2003–04 2,458 
		
	
	The role and responsibilities of the GICS in the Cabinet Office have evolved and developed since 1996.
	The GICS covered Emergency Communications Co-ordination from 2001–02 and HM Queen's Jubilee Media facilities in 2002–03.
	The GICS also funded a full-time Head of Profession from 1998 to December 2003.
	The Media Monitoring Unit also became part of GICS centre finances in April 1999 and the Government News Network in April 2002. Both charge other Government Departments for their services and so require no budget allocation.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many hours, and what budgets were allocated, for (a) training of magistrates and (b) training of magistrates clerks on antisocial behaviour orders in each magistrate authority, listed in descending order according to average amount spent on training for magistrates clerks since the introduction of antisocial behaviour orders.

Christopher Leslie: The specific information requested is not collected or held centrally and could be researched and provided in the format requested only at disproportionate cost. Statutory responsibility for the training of magistrates currently rests with the 42 independent Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs).
	For magistrates, MCCs generally incorporated Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) training into Bench meetings, new magistrate training days and other meetings or training events. The JSB produced training materials on ASBOs from within existing budgets, and the majority of MCCs report having used these along with their own written guidance notes, which they issued to all magistrates.
	Training for magistrates clerks was similarly delivered by most MCCs through regular meetings. Where MCCs provided information about time spent on ASBO issues, between one-and-a-half to two hours had been allocated at meetings, not including preparation and private study by individual clerks and legal advisers.

Boundary Changes

Peter Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Government plan to implement the boundary changes recommended by the Boundary Commission when it reports its findings.

Nick Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
	The Boundary Commission for England is required to submit its final report by 12 April 2007 and the Boundary Commission for Wales, by 16 December 2006. It is a matter for the Commissions when, within that timescale, they do so. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to lay the reports before Parliament, together with draft Orders in Council giving them effect, with or without modifications, as soon as may be thereafter.

Justice System (Costs)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps the Government are taking to cut (a) costs and (b) waste in the justice system.

Christopher Leslie: The question covers a wide range of initiatives being undertaken by Government Departments and agencies involved in the justice system and could be answered fully only at disproportionate cost.
	In this Department the principal measures to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system include: the creation of the unified courts administration in April 2005, combining the present Court Service with the magistrates' courts; the Tribunal for Users Programme that will create a single new agency responsible for the majority of tribunal; and savings of £210 million in legal aid to be made over the three years to March 2006 from very high cost criminal cases and asylum, civil and criminal legal aid generally.

Magistrates Courts

Vera Baird: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what effect combining magistrates courts with criminal jurisdictions and magistrates courts with civil and family jurisdictions has had, particularly with reference to shared waiting room facilities.

Christopher Leslie: When magistrates courts combine courts with criminal jurisdictions with courts with civil and family jurisdictions, they will routinely offer separate waiting facilities where practicable. However, there may be local and unavoidable circumstances when those waiting for criminal and civil and family hearings are required to share facilities.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Policies

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the impact of her Department's policies on the constituency of Regent's Park and Kensington, North since 1997.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport seeks to improve the quality of life for everyone through improved access to the best in cultural and sporting activities. The Department also champions the tourism, creative and leisure industries. The Department's policies have had a significant impact on the constituency of Regent's Park and Kensington, North since 1 May 1997. For example, Arts Council England funds a diverse range of arts organisations and projects in the constituency. In 2005–06, regularly funded arts organisations in Regent's Park and Kensington North will receive a total of £813,278—an increase of 12 per cent. from 2003–04. These include:
	The Union Dance Company and Trust, which will receive an Arts Council award of £250,065 in 2005–06—an increase of 22.1 per cent. from 2003–04;
	The London Print Studio (LPS), which will receive an Arts Council award of £181,800 in 2005–06—an increase of 5.1 per cent. since 2003–04;
	Paddington Arts, which will receive an Arts Council award of £50,000 in 2005–06—an increase of 5.9 per cent. since 2003–05.
	The Regent's Park, one of the eight Royal Parks, lies within this constituency. The park provides a wide range of amenities, including sports pitches for cricket, hockey, softball, football and rounders, tennis courts, golf practice facilities, boating and a running track. The Royal Parks Agency, an executive agency of DCMS, has obtained grants of £780,000 from the Football Foundation and £500,000 from Sport England to reinstate the sports pitches and to build a new pavilion. Work is underway on reinstating the pitches and is expected to be completed by October 2004. This funding also provides for a Sports Development Officer to work with local authorities to involve children from deprived backgrounds from all over London in sporting activities.
	The Royal Parks Agency also provides free entertainment every summer between June and September in The Regent's Park. This includes brass bands, music from the Caribbean and North Africa, opera, open air art and photography exhibitions.
	In addition to Government spending, the constituency of Regent's Park and Kensington, North has received 398 National Lottery awards since 1 May 1997, with a total value of £39.865 million. The awards include:
	A Sport England award of £8,778,720 to the North Kensington Amenity Trust for the extension of facilities at Westway Sports Centre (November 1999);
	A Sport England award of £1,536,069 to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for a new sports hall and the upgrading of changing and ancillary facilities (May 2000).
	The residents of Regent's Park and Kensington, North also have ready access to a wealth of national cultural institutions in London, including the English National Opera, the National Gallery and the British Museum.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the benefits of re-location of staff to north Staffordshire; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements;
	(3)  what assessment her Department has made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in her Department to north Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what plans she has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible relocation of staff in her Department to the regions; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

Euro

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in how many speeches during 2003 she declared support for the Government's policy on the euro.

Richard Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516–17W.

Historic Wrecks

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what proportion of those on the Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites are (a) vocational divers and (b) archaeologists;
	(2)  who the members of the Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites are; and what practical experience each member has in diving for historic wrecks.

Richard Caborn: The Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites includes members and observers drawn from a wide constituency of interests related to historic shipwrecks.
	Jonathan Adams a diver and archaeologist has been carrying out archaeological investigations on historic wrecks since 1979, including the Mary Rose, the Grace Dieu and the Amsterdam.
	Dr. Lucy Blue an archaeologist and diver has been working on submerged sites for 15 years.
	Stuart Bryan is the Sub-Aqua Association's Nautical Archaeology Co-ordinator, and has widespread experience of vocationally diving on submerged archaeological sites.
	Dr. Alexzandra Hildred a diver and archaeologist has been carrying out archaeological investigations on historic wrecks since 1979, including the Mary Rose.
	Jonathan Parlour is a vocational diving member of a licensed team carrying out archaeological surveys of the Coronation sites off Plymouth, which are both designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.
	Dr. Mark Redknap is an archaeologist and the diving curator of the National Museum of Wales, and has extensive experience of diving on historic wrecks including leading a team of volunteers to carry out excavations on the Cattewater wreck. He also led an expedition to the Smalls Reef, and has dived on the Mary Rose and Stirling Castle wrecks.
	Robin Daniels is an archaeologist and is the non-diving licensee of a designated wreck site. As this is in the intertidal zone, diving is not necessary.
	Margaret Deacon is a non-diving representative of the oceanographic research community.
	Patrick Griggs is a non-diving marine law specialist.
	Wendy Robinson is a non-diving expert in the first-aid conservation of finds from the marine environment.
	The Department intends to appoint an additional recreational diving representative on the Committee in early 2004.

Microsoft (Licensing Fees)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a decision has been taken as to whether her Department intends to continue paying Microsoft for licensing fees in future years; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: No decision has been taken yet on Microsoft licensing.

Microsoft (Licensing Fees)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport why the amount paid by her Department to Microsoft in licensing fees rose from £9,500 in 2001–02 to £234,000 in 2002–03.

Richard Caborn: The license fee increased because the Department moved to MS Office, implemented Microsoft's Content Management Server software as part of the redevelopment of the Department's website and took out upgrade protection on Microsoft products under the OGC agreement with the aim of reducing any costs that might accrue from Microsoft's new charging arrangements commonly known as Licensing 6.0.

Procurement (Outsourcing)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's procurement policy with regard to offshore IT and call centre outsourcing; whether her Department is outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to offshore companies; to which countries her Department has outsourced these jobs; how much her Department has spent on this outsourcing in each of the last two years; and how much has been budgeted for this purpose for the next two years.

Richard Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport follows central guidance from OGC on procurement policy. No IT jobs are outsourced to offshore companies and this Department does not operate any call centres. The Department spent £1.2 million on outsourcing in 2001–02, £1.3 million in 2002–03 and the budget for the next two years is in line with previous years.

Scottish Television

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to help introduce more viewing of Scottish television in Northern Ireland.

Estelle Morris: The BBC Scotland television service and ITV Scottish, Grampian and Border services are already available to those consumers in Northern Ireland with digital satellite receiving equipment. The extension of Scottish region television services to other areas in the UK is not possible on terrestrial television because of technical and licensing constraints.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the merger between the British Tourism Authority and the English Tourist Council.

Richard Caborn: On 31 October 2002, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a radical reform of tourism support in Britain aimed at building stronger, more effective and more coherent arrangements through the creation of a single lead body focusing on marketing. Functions of the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism Council were merged on 1 April 2003 to form VisitBritain, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State appointed Sir Michael Lickiss as Chairman.
	VisitBritain restructured its overseas operations during 2003. In addition to promoting Britain overseas as a tourist destination, VisitBritain is taking forward its new role as lead body for the domestic marketing of England. The England Marketing Advisory Board (EMAB), chaired by Hugh Taylor, was established on 1 April 2003 to advise the Board of VisitBritain on domestic marketing, and its domestic marketing strategy was published in November 2003. With EMAB's support, VisitBritain has launched a series of domestic 'Enjoy England' campaigns.
	The merger enables VisitBritain to use in the domestic market its expertise in marketing Britain internationally, developing more effective partnerships with private investors to support tourism across Britain and building on the success of the Million Visitor Campaign. It brings economies in terms of overheads and central services and it creates opportunities for private industry and the regions to take a stronger leadership role in setting the marketing agenda.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how the tourism satellite accounts will be of assistance to the tourism industry.

Richard Caborn: Tourism satellite accounts will deliver both improved and more extensive information on the economic value of the tourism sector. Tourism satellite accounts will facilitate the production of much improved estimates of quantities such as value added and employment in the tourism industry, and its linkages with the wider economy.
	The tourism industry will benefit directly from this enhanced source of information to assist their business planning and decision-making, and indirectly from decisions taken by public bodies that are informed by this new substantial information source.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which bodies will be consulted on the implementation of the tourism satellite accounts.

Richard Caborn: The management group of the UK Tourism Satellite Account First Steps Project are currently considering a draft consultation plan.
	This proposes a list of consultees which includes the Office for National Statistics as well as the following groups of organisations: devolved administrations, international organisations, regional development agencies, tourist boards, and the tourism industry through trade associations.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what the estimated cost of implementing the tourism satellite accounts is;
	(2)  when she expects the tourism satellite accounts to be completed; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The cost of the UK Tourism Satellite Account First Steps project, which has just begun, will be £75,000.
	As well as providing provisional figures for the main parts of a tourism satellite account, the project will deliver a report describing further work and data collection that would be required to subsequently develop a full tourism satellite account. This will also give an estimate of the costs that this would incur and the expected time-scale. This phase of the work will be completed by early autumn 2004.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Prisons

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister for Women what efforts are being made to prevent suicides among the female prison population.

Patricia Hewitt: Reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and instances of self-harm in prison establishments is a ministerial and Prison Service priority. A proactive three-year programme to develop policies and practices to reduce prisoner suicide and manage self-harm in prisons commenced in April 2001. The main principles of the strategy apply across all types of prisons and prisoners whether male or female. An investment of over £21 million through the three-year programme is allowing physical improvements (now 75 per cent. complete) to be made at six 'Safer Local' pilot sites, one of which is the women's prison and YOI Eastwood Park.
	The learning resulting from this programme will benefit all prisoners; meanwhile, women prisoners are to benefit from a specifically targeted and separate suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy being developed for them. This builds upon a number of interventions including: internal improvements in handling population pressures; individual crisis counselling for women prisoners who self-harm; the continued development and evaluation of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, which is currently being trialled at Durham, Bullwood Hall and Holloway prisons; investment and planning to ensure progress on the detoxification strategy in the Women's Estate; the development (in collaboration with the University of Newcastle) of a new, three-stage screening process to more effectively detect mental health problems; and the introduction of a new training pack for all staff working with women in custody, which includes a module on the health and well being of women prisoners. £1 million from the Department of Health has been allocated to the Women's Estate to be spent on the recruitment of psychiatric nurses, and 11 out of the 17 prisons for women now have mental health in-reach facilities.
	Brockhill, Eastwood Park, Holloway, New Hall and Styal prisons were among the first establishments to have full-time, dedicated Suicide Prevention Coordinators (SPCs); and now all women's prisons have a designated full or part-time SPC. All women's establishments also deliver suicide awareness training to staff and it is an inherent part of all employees' jobs to observe and report behaviour that may indicate a tendency to self-harm.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Brighton and Hove Albion

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 8 December, Official Report, column 342W, on Brighton and Hove Albion, if he will list the hon. Members with whom (a) he and (b) other ministers have discussed this issue.

Yvette Cooper: Neither the Deputy Prime Minister, nor any other Minister in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, has discussed the proposals for a football stadium at Palmer, East Sussex with other hon. Members.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff in his Department work in (a) the West Midlands and (b) North Staffordshire.

Yvette Cooper: The number of permanent and casual staff employed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in (a) West Midlands is 140 and (b) Staffordshire as a whole is 41

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what plans he has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible re-location of staff in his Department to the regions; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment his Department have made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in his Department to north Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements;
	(4)  what assessment his Department have made of the benefits of re-location of staff to north Staffordshire; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) on 12 January 2004.

Education Funding

Mark Hoban: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Cabinet Office's strategy and delivery units on changes in the way money is allocated to schools and the impact this would have on the system of local government financial support.

Nick Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 554W.

Fire Service (Radio System)

Martin Caton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how the Government will ensure that usable spectrum is available to bidders competing to provide a service wide radio replacement scheme for the fire service.

Nick Raynsford: In their response to the Invitation to Submit Proposals documentation suppliers have indicated that spectrum is available which is sufficient to meet the needs of their proposed solutions.

Fire Service (Radio System)

Martin Caton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the national competition for a service-wide radio replacement scheme for the fire service.

Nick Raynsford: The competition for a national radio system for the Fire and Rescue Services is progressing to plan, with competition scheduled for December 2007.

Housing

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements the Government have put in place to ensure that the special needs of disabled people are provided for within its affordable housing policy.

Yvette Cooper: All new build affordable housing schemes funded by the Government through the Housing Corporation must meet the requirements of 'Part M' of the building regulations, which the Government revised in 1999 to improve the accessibility and convenience of new housing. The revised regulations include requirements to ensure that entrances, lifts, corridors, doorways and WCs are accessible, including to wheelchair users. In addition, all newly built affordable housing schemes funded through the Housing Corporation must comply with the Corporation's scheme development standards, which adopt criteria for accessibility and internal environments that help to make homes even more adaptable to long-term needs.
	The Government also provides resources for adaptations to existing homes to meet the needs of people with physical disabilities. Local housing authorities have a statutory duty to offer means tested Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) to eligible applicants in both the private and social rented sectors who require adaptations to help them live independently in their own homes. The Government meets 60 per cent. of local authority expenditure incurred on DFGs, with the remaining 40 per cent. being met from the authority's own resources. We have increased funding for this grant to £99 million in 2003–04, compared with £88 million in 2002–03 and £56 million in 1997–98.

Housing

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what complaints he has received on the balloting arrangements of local authorities consulting tenants on plans to transfer their housing stocks.

Keith Hill: None.

Housing Bill

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of measures in the Housing Bill on promoting safety of the student population.

Keith Hill: No formal assessment has been made as to how the proposals in the Housing Bill will impact on the safety of students. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister believes proposals will bring real benefits to students.
	The Bill includes measures to license Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), including shared student houses. Local authorities are required to licence HMOs of three or more storeys which are occupied by five or more persons. In addition they will have discretionary powers to license other categories HMOs where there are problems for which licensing is appropriate. The exercise of those powers will be subject to effective local consultation and to approval by the appropriate minister.

Housing Bill

Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of houses in multiple occupation which are likely to be licensed under measures in the Housing Bill.

Keith Hill: The Government are proposing to introduce mandatory licensing for highest risk Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects this to cover properties of three storeys or more and five people or more. It is estimated that about 120,000 houses in multiple occupation are expected to be licensed under this proposal. This estimate, however, does not include properties that could be required to be licensed where a local authority seeks to use in its area the discretionary power that the Bill provides to extend the scope of HMO licensing to HMOs not subject to the national mandatory licensing.

Local Government Finance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from Leicester city council concerning the proposed local government settlement for Leicester in 2004–05.

Nick Raynsford: Since the start of consultation on 19 November, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received two representations from Leicester city council, on the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2004–05. Consultation closed on 9 January. I have recently written to the Leader of Leicester city council to express concern about media reports of potentially large council tax increase in Leicester.

Local Government Finance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much additional money Leicester city council has received from his Department in each year since 1997.

Nick Raynsford: Grant issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its predecessor departments for Leicester city council since 1997 is as tabled:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1997–98 215.6 
			 1998–99 223.4 
			 1999–00 227.8 
			 2000–01 236.5 
			 2001–02 242.1 
			 2002–03 252.0 
			 2003–04(25) 273.3 
		
	
	(25) Budgeted figures. Includes Revenue Support Grant, Redistributed Non-Domestic Rates, Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (from 2001–02 onwards).
	Source:
	RS forms 1997–98 to 2002–03, RG forms 2001–02 to 2002–03, RA 2003–04 form and RA(SG) 2003–04 form.

Parish Clerks

Robert Key: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of parish clerks are paid less than the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Rough Sleepers

George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the proportion of rough sleepers who had previously been in local authority care in each of the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: This information is not held centrally, and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Scalding Accidents

John Gummer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people (a) over and (b) under 12 have been seriously scalded in baths or showers in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: The total number of injuries due to scalding in baths or showers over the five most recent years for which records are held is in the table.
	
		
			 Year Under 12 Over 12 
		
		
			 1998 2,700 918 
			 1999 2,560 823 
			 2000 1,863 976 
			 2001 2,000 1,107 
			 2002 1,743 1,148 
		
	
	Data on the severity of these injuries is not held centrally, and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Scalding Accidents

John Gummer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many children under 12 who were seriously scalded in showers or baths in each of the past five years were unaccompanied by an adult.

Phil Hope: Accident records collected in hospital casualty departments do not record whether children were accompanied or supervised by an adult when bathing.

Social Housing (Plymouth)

Gary Streeter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many social houses for rent have been built by (a) housing associations and (b) Plymouth city council in Plymouth in each of the last three financial years.

Keith Hill: The figures reported by Plymouth city council and the National House Building Council in returns to the Office of the Prime Minister show:
	
		
			  (a) (b) 
		
		
			 2000–01 38 0 
			 2001–02 24 0 
			 2002–03 4 0

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Malawi

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has given to Malawi in 2003–04 to deal with food shortages; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of its use.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has committed £13 million to assist Malawi with food security in financial year 2003–04. This aid will pay for improved seeds and fertilizers for over 2 million poor households, pay-for-work schemes for rural poor, feeding programmes for the most vulnerable groups and strengthening management in Malawi's safety net programmes and food crisis early warning systems. DFID also works closely in this area with the World Bank and the European Commission which plans to spend £14 million on food security this year.
	Thorough evaluations of the largest schemes are made on a regular basis. DFID's seed and fertilizer scheme shows very high returns. The pay-for-work scheme needs some changes to improve targeting and sustainability. The food crisis early warning system is steadily improving and should meet the information needs identified in the 2001–02 food crisis.

World Trade Round

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on how many occasions he had discussions with Mr. Pascal Lamy between 10 and 14 September 2003.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK delegation was in close contact with the European Commission, at all levels, throughout the duration of the WTO ministerial in Cancun.

World Trade Round

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he was consulted about the drafting of the Derbez text at the World Trade Organisation ministerial in Cancun.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The Ministerial Declaration, circulated by the Mexican Foreign Minister, Derbez, was produced following extensive consultations with WTO Members and the European Commission. The UK and other EU member states made their views known to the Commission formally, through meetings of the Article 133 Committee and the European Council, and informally.

Zimbabwe

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his latest assessment is of the number of people facing food shortages in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee's survey in April last year estimated that approximately 4.4 million people in rural areas and 1.1 million people in urban areas would require food aid during the pre-harvest months of January, February and March 2004. However, it is now clear that this figure is an underestimate and is being revised upwards to 5.1 million people in rural areas. Results of a comprehensive urban vulnerability assessment are yet to be released, but are also expected to show a significant increase in people requiring humanitarian assistance.
	This increase in beneficiary numbers is partly due to spiralling inflation (now over 600 per cent.), which has affected food prices in shops. There is also emerging evidence of up to several hundred thousand people facing crisis in the former commercial farming areas, most of whom are former farm workers displaced by the Government's disastrous land reform programme. Additionally, the state-controlled Grain Marketing Board has proved erratic and unreliable in contributing to food supply and distribution in the country. Donors are monitoring the situation closely, in close consultation with the World Food Programme.

Zimbabwe

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the Government of South Africa on food imports to Zimbabwe.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Apart from being a major exporter of food to Zimbabwe, South Africa is also a donor in the on-going humanitarian relief effort. The South African Government donated approximately 58,000 metric tonnes of maize to the previous WFP emergency operation for 2002–03, and may make a further contribution to the current operation. Accordingly, representatives of the South African Government participate regularly in co-ordination meetings concerning the humanitarian programme in Zimbabwe, where issues such as food imports are discussed.
	Outside Zimbabwe, representatives from UK Government regularly discuss the Zimbabwe crisis with the Government of South Africa, though discussions usually focus on broad political and humanitarian issues, rather than food imports.
	The UK Government, together with the other major donors (EU and USAID), continue to promote the liberalisation of food imports to Zimbabwe and the role of the private sector.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Arms Exports (Israel)

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether approvals have been given for the export to Israel of categories of equipment covering (a) mortars, (b) rocket launchers, (c) anti-tank weapons, (d) military explosives, (e) infrared and radar sensors and (f) chemical and biological agents.

Nigel Griffiths: Since May 1997, the Government have published an Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls containing details of all goods authorised for export from the UK and to which destinations. Copies of the Annual Report are available from the Libraries of the House.

British Energy

Anne Picking: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her written statement of 5 January, Official Report, column 1WS, on British Energy, what the current outstanding drawdown on the Government's credit facility by British Energy is.

Stephen Timms: Nil. As the company stated on 23 December 2003 the proceeds from the sale of Amergen were used to pay down all outstanding drawings on the credit facility.

Business Support Schemes

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent on business support schemes in the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by region.

Patricia Hewitt: Regional analysis of the Department's net spend on Promotion of Enterprise, Innovation and Increased Productivity (including Regional Development Agency expenditure) for the years 1998–99 to 2001 -02 is as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  Financial year 
			 Region 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 
		
		
			 North East 23.6 32.0 45.8 71.0 
			 North West 67.3 71.5 93.8 120.4 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 49.9 52.8 57.7 72.7 
			 East Midlands 43.4 37.7 49.1 56.5 
			 West Midlands 53.7 62.4 82.2 79.0 
			 South West 49.8 44.4 49.5 66.5 
			 Eastern 68.4 54.9 61.8 73.5 
			 London 103.1 86.0 106.0 116.5 
			 South East 102.4 84.9 103.5 110.0 
			 Total 561.6 526.6 649.4 766.1 
		
	
	Similar data are not readily available for 1997–98 and the full analysis has not yet been completed for 2002–03.

Cancun Summit

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it was her policy to support the decision of the European Union at the World Trade Organisation ministerial in Cancun to pursue negotiations on the Singapore issues.

Mike O'Brien: The Government remain convinced that it is important for developed and developing countries alike to reduce bureaucracy on cross border trade (trade facilitation), to encourage a climate which facilitates foreign direct investment, to promote economic growth through fair competition and to encourage transparency in the procurement of public goods and services to help reduce corruption and increase good governance.

Cancun Summit

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she was consulted about the drafting of the Derbez text at the World Trade Organisation ministerial in Cancun.

Mike O'Brien: The draft Ministerial Declaration, circulated by the Mexican Foreign Minister Derbez, was produced following extensive consultations with WTO members and the European Commission. The UK and other EU member states made their views known to the commission formally, through meetings of the Article 133 Committee and the European Council, and informally.

Miners Compensation

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total amount of full and final settlements and interim payments paid to former miners and their families to date is in South Yorkshire.

Nigel Griffiths: To date £127 million has been paid in respect of respiratory disease and £163 million in respect vibration white finger to claimants in South Yorkshire.

Credit Registers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were placed on a bad creditor register as a result of incorrect information in each of the last 10 years; and what right of appeal those wrongly placed on such registers have.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There is no register of bad creditors as such. Credit reference agencies hold details of credit accounts and payment histories. In some cases these may show late payments or defaults. Lenders use this information to make decisions regarding the suitability of lending to a particular consumer. These decisions may vary depending on individual lenders commercial decisions.
	If individuals believe a particular lender has registered incorrect information about their account with a credit reference agency, they can contact either the lender or the agency to seek correction. Checks should then be made on the accuracy of the information, and corrections made where appropriate. Where individuals can show that the information on their credit file is inaccurate and the lender has refused to amend it, the matter can be referred to the Information Commissioner. Alternatively, individuals have the right to seek redress through the courts.
	There are no centrally collated results to show the number of applications for corrections on credit reference files, nor the number of corrections made as a result of those applications.

Departmental Advertising

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total expenditure on information campaigns and advertising was for her Department in 1997–98.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department's expenditure on advertising through the Central Office of Information in 1997–98 amounted to £2,504,885 excluding VAT and subsequent COI rebates. Records of expenditure on other information campaigns are not held centrally.

Departmental Grants

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding her Department has provided to the Industry Forum Adaptation scheme since its inception; and what time scale applies to this funding.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department undertook to support an initial two-year Industry Forum Adaptation (IFA) programme comprising a number of separate sectorally-focused projects. An initial tranche of £15 million funding was agreed in July 1999. This allocation was fully committed by March 2002. Following a high degree of demand from sectors, I announced a further £20 million (£11 million devoted to IFA) at the Manufacturing Summit in December 2001. Funding support the majority of IF A projects is over three to five years on a tapering basis. Contractual spending commitments under IFA extend to financial year 2007–08.

Dumping

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it is her policy to seek an end to dumping of agricultural produce by developed countries on developing countries as part of a development treaty agreement with the World Trade Organisation.

Mike O'Brien: The ultimate goal in WTO agriculture negotiations is to create freer and fairer world markets in agriculture. The Doha mandate commits all WTO members to substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support and reductions, with a view to phasing out, all forms of export subsidy. If agreed, this will make a significant contribution to reducing dumping of subsidised produce on developing country markets.

Electricity Grid

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action her Department is taking to ensure that the national electricity grid is able to cope in the winter months.

Stephen Timms: We expect the national electricity grid to be robust over the winter months. However, there are always some exceptional circumstances capable of leading to supply problems. We are not complacent and will continue to monitor the situation with National Grid and Ofgem.

Employment Directive

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the volunteering sector will be covered by the Employment Directive.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 12 January 2004
	The European Employment Directive applies to employment and vocational training. While it does not cover unpaid volunteers, therefore, people employed in the voluntary sector enjoy the same rights under it as those employed in the private and public sectors.

Employment Directive

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether it will be possible to claim discrimination on more than one ground under the Employment Directive.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 12 January 2004
	Yes. The grounds covered by this Directive are not mutually exclusive. As with other employment discrimination legislation, parties covered by the Employment Directive will be able to claim discrimination on any of the grounds on which they believe they have been discriminated.

Age Discrimination

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how her Department will define the legitimate aims an employer may use to justify age discrimination.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 12 January 2004
	The consultation on proposals for age discrimination legislation ended on 20 October 2003. It sought views on the legitimate aims that employers might use to justify age discrimination. We will decide what kind of approach to take in the light of our analysis of the responses to the consultation. We will consult on the draft regulations this Spring.

Employment Tribunals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how long it took on average in each year since 1999 for employment tribunals to issue a decision after a hearing has finished.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 12 January 2004
	In the last four financial years, based on the information currently held in the Employment Tribunal Service's statistical database, the average length of time taken to issue a decision was as follows:
	
		
			  Days 
		
		
			 1999–2000 20 
			 2000–01 22 
			 2001–02 22 
			 2002–03 20 
		
	
	Source:
	Employment Tribunals Service.

Energy Policy

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meteorological studies her Department has (a) conducted and (b) commissioned on average percentage levels of availability at different points during the year of (i) onshore wind farms, (ii) offshore wind farms and (iii) wave power installations.[R]

Stephen Timms: Last year my Department commissioned a study in order to assist in determining the priority areas for future commercial exploitation of renewable energy.
	The study 'Atlas of UK Marine Renewables' will among other things provide a spatial quantification of offshore wind and wave resources and will also consider the temporal variation of the energy parameters. The first results from the study are expected shortly.
	Other supported projects which have included meteorological studies include; 'Predicting Offshore Wind Energy Resources (POWER), 1 project which developed a novel wind resource assessment methodology which can produce long-term and spatially detailed estimates of the wind conditions at offshore sites and the 'Forecasting Short-Term Wind Farm Production' 2 project which developed a method that applies a model to provide site specific forecasts of wind speed and power from one to 36 hour horizons.
	Additionally, the Department of Trade and Industry's Wind Speed Database contains estimates of the annual mean wind speed throughout the UK. The database uses the Ordnance Survey grid system each value stored in the database is the estimated average for a 1km square at 10m, 25m or 45m above ground level.
	Full reports of both mentioned projects together with the Wind Speed Database can be seen on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk
	1 Predicting Offshore Wind Energy Resources (POWER)—ETSU W/35/00536/00/REP URN 02/1436
	2 Forecasting Short-Term Wind Farm Production—FES W/45/00572/00/00 URN 03/892

Energy Policy

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department has taken in the last six months to ensure that the nuclear energy option remains open. [R]

Stephen Timms: Skills and Research and Development are key areas for maintaining nuclear power as an option for the future.
	The Government have been assisting in the establishment of a Sector Skills Council to represent the needs of the nuclear industry. Cogent Sector Skills Council is undergoing the development process for licensing early this year. It will aim to ensure that the education and training base meet the nuclear employers current and future needs.
	New opportunities for fission research, with funding up to £5 million over four years, were recently announced as part of the Research Council's "Towards a Sustainable Energy Economy" (TSEC) initiative. This funding comes from the £28 million allocated to the Research Councils for sustainable energy research under the 2002 Spending review.
	We have also been looking closely at energy research needs across the board in the light of the Energy White Paper, including nuclear fission. DTI funding is being
	considered as part of the 2004 Spending Review, which covers the period 2005–08.

Energy Policy

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the report, "An Essential Programme to Underpin Government Policy on Nuclear Power", published by the Nuclear Task Force in July 2003.[R]

Stephen Timms: The report's recommendations are being considered in the wider context of UK energy research requirements as part of the 2004 Spending Review, covering Government expenditure for the period 2005–08.

Energy Policy

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the Renewable Energy Capital Modernisation Fund was allocated in 2003–04, as referred to in her Departmental Report 2003; and what amounts were allocated through non-nuclear expenditure directly related to the creation of open markets in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The Renewable Energy Capital Modernisation Fund is providing £60 million of the additional £100 million for renewable energy announced by the Prime Minister in March 2001. The allocation of this £100 million to different activities in the renewable energy sector was announced in November 2001 and is set out as follows.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Capital grants for offshore wind 25 
			 Biomass capital grants: 30 
			 Energy crops infrastructure (DEFRA) 3.5 
			 Innovative photovoltaic (PV) projects 10 
			 Community and household schemes 10 
			 Planning facilitation 2.5 
			 Metering, storage and control technologies 4 
			 Wave and tidal demonstrations 5 
			 Support for "blue skies" research (OST) 10 
		
	
	Inclusive of the Prime Minister's £100 million, the Government are allocating £348 million over four years in direct support for renewable energy. This is over and above the incentive to renewable energy provided by the Renewables Obligation. All this support will contribute to opening up market opportunities for renewable energy.

Engineering Construction Industry

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to ensure that the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry is made mandatory.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government believe that voluntary collective agreements should not be legally enforceable unless all the parties covered by such agreements want it. To do otherwise would undermine the voluntarist nature of collective bargaining in this country and dissuade parties from entering voluntary agreements.

Industrial Disease

Michael Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the ratio is of live to posthumous claims for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and how many new claims were received in each of the last 10 weeks, broken down by area.

Nigel Griffiths: The ratio of claims is 47 per cent. live and 53 per cent. deceased.
	The number of claims received is:
	
		
			 W/E Scotland England Wales Total 
		
		
			 2003 
			 2 November 638 6,762 625 8,025 
			 9 November 419 7,039 302 7,760 
			 16 November 471 6,021 977 7,469 
			 23 November 535 7,189 1,322 9,046 
			 30 November 373 5,833 1,506 7,712 
			 7 December 694 6,395 1,715 8,804 
			 14 December 602 5,136 3,509 9,247 
			 21 December 542 5,122 1,495 7,159 
			 28 December 71 1,097 68 1,236 
			  
			 2004 
			 4 January 60 1,890 64 2,014

Investment Rules

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on the development of non-discriminatory multilateral rules for investment.

Mike O'Brien: The Government remain convinced that there are potential economic and social benefits to be gained from a multilateral rules on investment for both developed and developing countries. However, we must take account of the views of developing countries, many of whom have expressed their strong opposition to taking forward negotiations particularly in the areas of investment and competition.
	I, therefore, welcome the fact that EU Trade Ministers agreed on 2 December that the European Community should "unbundle" the four issues and explore alternative, more flexible approaches, including the possibility of removing some, or all, of the Singapore issues from the Doha Round.

Iraq (Contracts)

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment she has made of the opportunities for (a) United Kingdom and (b) Iraqi companies to win contracts and sub-contracts from the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: We wish to see UK companies play a substantial role in the reconstruction process in Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) maintains an open system for the tendering process and several UK companies have already won contracts to assist in the reconstruction in Iraq. A further request for proposals has recently been released by the CPA Project Management Office which provides additional opportunities for UK companies to bid for contracts and sub-contracts.
	Iraqi companies are eligible to bid for both the prime contracts and sub-contracts.

Leak Inquiries

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list occasions on which her Department have conducted an inquiry into alleged leaks from members of staff since 1997; and if she will list the occasions on which the names of those persons accused of leaking information from her Department have been made public (a) by the Government and (b) by way of another source.

Patricia Hewitt: The information is as follows:
	1997
	The DTI conducted nine leak inquiries and assisted other Government Departments in a further four inquiries.
	1998
	The DTI conducted four leak inquiries and assisted other Government Departments in a further three inquiries.
	1999
	The DTI conducted one leak inquiry and assisted other Government Departments in a further four inquiries.
	2000
	The DTI conducted one leak inquiry and assisted other Government Departments in a further three inquiries.
	2001
	The DTI conducted no leak inquiries and was not asked to assist in any leak inquiry conducted by another Government Department.
	2002
	The DTI conducted one leak inquiry and assisted another Government Department in one further inquiry.
	2003
	The DTI conducted one leak inquiry and assisted other Government Departments in a further two inquiries.
	On no occasion has the name of any person accused of leaking information been made public.

World Trade Round

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions she had discussions with Pascal Lamy between 10 and 14 September 2003.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend, and I, had various discussions with Pascal Lamy between 10 and 14 September 2003. The UK delegation was in close contact with the European Commission, at all levels, throughout the duration of the WTO ministerial in Cancun.

Nuclear Energy

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the basis is for the value of British Energy's spent fuel stockpile under paragraph 10.2, page 27 of the Historic Liabilities Funding Agreement between the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, British Energy Generation (UK) Limited, British Energy Generation Ltd, Newco1 and Newco2, dated 1 October 2003.

Stephen Timms: British Energy's spent fuel represents a significant liability, provisions for which are set out in the Company's published accounts. Under the terms agreed for the restructuring of British Energy, the Government will take financial responsibility for the company's historic spent fuel liabilities, but British Energy will retain title to the fuel. In order to give the Government maximum flexibility in dealing with this fuel, for which it will be financially responsible, the Historic Liabilities Funding Agreement contains the option for the Government or another body nominated by the Government to take title to the fuel from British Energy for the nominal sum of £1.

Nuclear Energy

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the implications for security of nuclear materials at Sellafield of the report released on 18 December 2003 of nuclear material unaccounted for at UKAEA, BNFL and URENCO nuclear sites.

Stephen Timms: There are no security implications associated with the published "materials unaccounted for" (MUF) figures. The MUF values for any accountancy period need to be read in the context of the processing of materials that occurred over that period, and the published figures relating to Sellafield are within acceptable limits. There is no evidence to suggest that there have been any real losses or gains of nuclear material.

Patents

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer to question reference 145352 of 7 January, if she will list the 13 animals to which patents have been granted; and in each case, to which part of the animal the patent applies.

Patricia Hewitt: The animals are nematode worms (four patents), salmon (one patent), trout, (one patent), Zebrafish (one patent), mice (one patent), and non-human mammals in general (five patents). In each case, the patent relates to the whole organism.

Regional Selective Assistance

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) new jobs were created and (b) jobs were safeguarded following allocation of Regional Selective Assistance applications in each of the last five years, broken down by region.

Jacqui Smith: This information can be found in the Industrial Development Act Annual Report published by the Stationery Office and placed in the Library of the House.

Singapore Issues

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the stance of her Department was on the Singapore issues at meetings of European trade ministers and officials before 15 December 2003.

Mike O'Brien: The Government remain convinced that there are potential economic and social benefits to be gained from the Singapore issues for both developed and developing countries. However, we must take account of the views of developing countries, many of whom have expressed their strong opposition to taking forward negotiations, particularly in the areas of investment and competition.
	I, therefore, welcome the fact that EU Trade Ministers agreed on 2 December that the European Community should "unbundle" the four issues and explore alternative, more flexible approaches, including the possibility of removing some, or all, of the Singapore issues from the Doha Round.

Singapore Issues

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on the Singapore issue of trade facilitation.

Mike O'Brien: The Government fully support the EU objective of securing an, ideally multilateral, agreement within the WTO on trade facilitation. Research by the World Bank and the OECD, together with the European Commission's own analysis, show the potential for savings and welfare gains. Proportionately developing countries, in particular, stand to gain most.

Single Market

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on (a) European Community draft legislation to create a single market in service; and (b) on the effect the proposals will have.

Jacqui Smith: The proposals, which were expected to be published in the form of a European Framework Directive in mid-December, are the commission's response to a request by leaders at the Lisbon European Council in 2000 that the internal market be made to work for services.
	The aim is to remove those barriers to cross-border trade that affect all service sectors and all stages of the business process—establishment, use of inputs, promotion, distribution, sales, after-sales. Since the proposals have not yet been formally published, the Government cannot make any detailed comments at this point on their effect.
	The UK has already expressed support for the aim of making the single market a reality for services believing that this will bring advantages to the UK economy, its businesses and consumers. Market services have been increasing in importance to the UK economy over many years and now account for the bulk of UK economic growth.
	Greater competition and openness have the potential of providing to recipients more choice of better quality services at cheaper prices and reducing the cost of manufactured goods, thereby creating further gains for consumers. The implications for UK businesses would extend from traditional service companies, such as retailers and accountants, to manufacturers, who use and provide services.

Small Businesses

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms in Leeds, West have benefited from the small firms loan guarantee; and in which sectors.

Nigel Griffiths: In the financial year 2002–03, 10 firms in Leeds, West benefited from a loan under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee; eight in the service sector and two in manufacturing.
	In the current financial year to 31 December 2003, 14 firms have received loans; seven in the service sector and seven in manufacturing.

Small Businesses

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses have (a) opened and (b) closed in disadvantaged areas in each year since 1997.

Nigel Griffiths: Value added tax (VAT) registrations and de-registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of start-ups and closures. These cover businesses of all sizes.
	The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has defined 88 local authorities in England as being deprived for the purposes of targeting the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.
	The number of businesses registering and de-registering for VAT in each calendar year from 1997 to 2002 in deprived areas in England is as follows:
	
		VAT registrations and de-registrations in English deprived areas(26)
		
			  VAT registrations VAT de-registrations 
		
		
			 1997 58,835 48,045 
			 1998 60,490 48,890 
			 1999 59,450 50,490 
			 2000 60,045 52,470 
			 2001 56,530 52,830 
			 2002 56,255 55,530 
		
	
	(26) Deprived areas are defined by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit. See http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk for further details

Tariffs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what quantitive assessment she has made of the effect of (a) tariff rates and (b) tariff escalation on the economies and living standards of developing countries.

Mike O'Brien: The best source of information on this topic are the large number of studies which have already been undertaken by international organisations such as the World Bank, IMF, UNCTAD and the OECD, and by charitable organisations such as Oxfam. The work of these organisations demonstrates the need to look at all barriers to trade and the need for fundamental trade policy reform.
	It remains, however, very difficult to make an accurate quantitative economic assessment of the overall impact of tariffs and tariff escalation on developing country markets. The World Bank have, however, estimated that the comprehensive reform of all aspects of agricultural policies in developed countries could boost the income of developing countries by as much as $100 billion.

Trade Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect of an agreement at the World Trade Organisation with the G20 on subsidies, tariffs and the Singapore issue on (a) the G20, (b) the United Kingdom, (c) the European Union and (d) the United States.

Mike O'Brien: The potential effect of agreements on any WTO member would depend on the specific provisions and the level of commitments undertaken by that country.
	An ambitious conclusion to the current round of WTO negotiations, aimed at reducing trade distorting subsidies, tariffs and non tariff barriers to international trade and investment, would improve the prospects of increased prosperity for all WTO members.

Trade Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had since 17 September 2003 with her counterpart in the United States about (a) the desirability of and (b) the timetable for eliminating US subsidies to cotton producers.

Mike O'Brien: There is ongoing contact between UK and US officials about all aspects of the WTO Round, including on the question of support for cotton production. In view of the importance of this issue, the UK has provided Euro50,000 in technical assistance to help the four West African producer countries, all of which are LDCs, promote their case in the WTO. All WTO members are committed to substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support and we must work together to achieve that objective including on cotton subsidies.

Trade Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether developing countries have produced a list of proposed products to be covered by the proposal in the Derbez text to remove export subsidies for products of particular interest to developing countries.

Mike O'Brien: No, there is not a list as far as we are aware.

Trade Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what comes into the category of green box support.

Mike O'Brien: For domestic support measures to qualify as 'green box' under WTO rules, they must have no, or at most minimal, trade-distorting effects on production. A full list of the support categories that can qualify as 'green box' is set out in Annex 2 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture 1994.

Trade Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what comes into the category of amber box support.

Mike O'Brien: Under WTO rules, amber box support covers all trade-distorting domestic support measures paid to agricultural producers. This means all support to producers other than that:
	(i) which is exempted as 'blue box' or 'green box' compatible (for a definition of payments falling under the blue box and green box see answers to PQs 146607 and 146605); or
	(ii) which is an integral part of a development programme in developing countries, for instance to assist low-income or resource poor producers; or
	(iii) which encourages producers in developing countries to diversify away from illicitly growing narcotic crops.
	Members do not have to declare payments to producers below a "de minimis" threshold of 5 per cent. of their total value of agricultural production.

Trade Support

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on what constitutes blue box domestic support.

Mike O'Brien: WTO rules classify 'blue box' support separately to 'amber box' support as it is less trade-distorting in impact. This is because blue box must take the form of a direct payment under a production-limiting programme and be:
	(i) based on fixed areas and yields; or
	(ii) made on 85 per cent. or less of the base level of production; or
	(iii) (where applied to livestock) made on a fixed number of head.

Working Time Directive

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of the Working Time Directive's opt-out clause on industrial relations in the UK.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The opt-out from the weekly working time limits provides workers with the choice to work longer hours if they want to and flexibility for employers. A recent study, "The Business Context to Long Hours Working" published by my department shows that employers thought the most common barrier to reducing the hours of staff was the needs of the business and workload (55 per cent. of respondents cited this), second to this was the concern that existing staff may resist the reduction in hours as it could limit their choice to work these hours and a reduction in their overtime pay (22 per cent.)

World Trade Organisation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had since 14 September 2003 with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation about the status of papers produced by chairmen and facilitators of working groups, and the role of the World Trade Organisation Secretariat, at World Trade Organisation Ministerials.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend has discussed various issues with Dr. Supachai, since 14 September, including the organisation of WTO Ministerial conferences.

World Trade Organisation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what immediate reforms she has proposed to the conduct of World Trade Organisation Ministerials.

Mike O'Brien: The Government have discussed a number of proposals for the reform of the WTO with our EU partners and the European Commission. These proposals are reflected in the commission's strategy paper, "Reviving the DDA Negotiations—the EU perspective", which was endorsed by the European Council of Ministers on 8 December last year.
	However, it is vital that reform of the WTO should not distract members from pursuing the Doha Development Agenda.

World Trade Organisation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what submission her Department has made to the Sutherland Commission on longer-term reforms of World Trade Organisation Ministerials.

Mike O'Brien: The Government have discussed a number of proposals for the reform of the WTO with our EU partners and the European Commission. These proposals are reflected in the Commission's strategy paper, "Reviving the DDA Negotiations—the EU perspective", which was endorsed by the European Council of Ministers on 8 December last year.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Infant Death

George Osborne: To ask the Solicitor General 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on the implications of the Angela Cannings case for the Crown Prosecution Service;
	(2)  what guidance she has issued to Chief Crown prosecutors about cases involving mothers accused of killing their infant children; and whether she expects to issue new guidance;
	(3)  how many mothers were charged with infanticide in each of the last 20 years; and how many mothers were charged with murder of their own children in each of the last 20 years;
	(4)  if the Crown Prosecution Service will review family court cases in which evidence was given by Professor Meadow;
	(5)  when the inter-departmental group she established to consider the implications of the Sally Clarke case will decide whether to review cases involving Professor Meadow;
	(6)  in how many family court cases evidence was given by Professor Meadow;
	(7)  when she expects the Crown Prosecution Service to conclude its review of the cases in which Dr. Alan Williams conducted a post mortem;
	(8)  what the total cost to public funds of the prosecution of Sally Clarke, Angela Cannings and Trupti Patel has been.

Harriet Harman: We are awaiting the full written judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Angela Cannings case and therefore it is not possible to make a detailed statement on the implications at this stage.
	At the Court of Appeal hearing, Lord Justice Judge expressed concern about the difficulties for the trial jury in resolving issues regarding complex scientific evidence in relation to infant death when the present state of scientific knowledge is evolving.
	He went on to state that the appeal had raised a number of issues of general public interest in relation to infant deaths and the Court of Appeal would therefore need time to reflect on the terms of its judgment.
	The Crown Prosecution Service has taken note of these comments and will study the full judgment carefully when it is released.
	Since the written reasons of the Court of Appeal in the case of Sally Clark were made available, and following the acquittal of Trupti Patel, the Crown Prosecution Service has undertaken a number of actions. Interim guidance was sent to all Chief Crown Prosecutors on 17 June 2003 requesting that all cases be identified in which either Doctor Williams or Professor Meadow are witnesses and requiring them to serve a copy of the judgement in the Sally Clark case on the defence and to draw attention to sections of the judgement touching on their evidence.
	Following the appeal of Sally Clark, the Attorney General established a Group comprising representatives of the police, Crown Prosecution Service, Home Office and other relevant agencies to consider whether any cases in which Doctor Williams has given important evidence require a more in depth review.
	On 28 July, the Group held its first meeting. Progress was made in two areas. Firstly, on how previous cases in which Doctor Alan Williams conducted a post mortem were to be identified and, secondly, what factors would be used to select the cases on which the Group should concentrate.
	Following that meeting, work commenced immediately on the identification of relevant cases. The Group met a deadline of mid-September for the conclusion of that process. By that date, approximately 50 previous cases had been identified, which dated back between five-seven years. These cases all involved charges of murder, manslaughter or infanticide where Doctor Williams had been instructed by the police to conduct the post mortem and which had resulted in a conviction. The cases themselves are now being individually reviewed. An experienced Metropolitan police officer and a Crown Prosecutor are conducting the review. This work is continuing.
	When the full written judgement in Angela Cannings is published, the same group will consider whether to extend the review to include cases involving Professor Meadow.
	The total cost incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service in the case of Sally Clark will eventually be approximately £320,000. That figure comprises counsels' fees, expert witness costs and approximately £50,000 is estimated as being attributable to Crown Prosecution Service staff costs.
	The costs of the Trupti Patel case are approximately £183,716.63. We cannot provide an estimate of CPS costs for this case at this stage, however, I will write to the hon. Member with those details once known.
	The costs of the Angela Cannings case have not yet been settled. However, it is estimated that prosecution costs arising from the original trial and the subsequent appeal will be in the region of £220,000.
	Owing to the way CPS records arc kept, figures on the number of mothers charged with infanticide and mothers charged with the murder of their own children cannot be produced without incurring disproportionate costs.
	The Crown Prosecution Service was set up by the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 to take over the conduct of criminal cases instituted by the police (other than some minor cases). It has no statutory power to initiate a review of family court cases in which evidence was given by Professor Meadow.
	Information on the number of cases in the Family Court in which Professor Meadow has given evidence is not held centrally. The Crown is not usually party to Family Court cases.
	No guidance to Crown. Prosecutors relating specifically to mothers accused of killing their infant children has been issued.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefits

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if the Department will reinstate in its website's section on benefit expenditure tables, tables 1 and 2, showing detailed benefit spending from 1993–94 onwards.

Chris Pond: The information requested has been posted on the Department's website, updated to include pre-Budget report 2003 expenditure forecasts.

Benefits

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people drew their benefits at (a) Belgrave branch post office, (b) Dosthill branch post office, (c) Kerria road branch post office, (d) Hockley branch post office, (e) Kettlebrook branch post office, (f) Silver Link branch post office, (g) Two Gates branch post office and (h) Wilnecote branch post office in Tamworth in the last (i) week, (ii) month and (iii) year for which figures are available.

Chris Pond: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Statistics are not held on payment data on an individual Post Office basis.

Benefits

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the reasons for differences between the figures in table 5 of his Department's Benefit Expenditure Tables and the estimates for social security benefit expenditure provided in table B13 of the pre-Budget report.

Chris Pond: Table 5 of the DWP Benefit Expenditure Tables and the estimates for social security benefit expenditure provided in table B13 of the pre-Budget report do not have the same coverage of Government Spending. DWP Benefit Expenditure Tables cover those benefits for which DWP has policy responsibility, only covering Great Britain (except for Over 75 TV Licences). The pre-Budget report figures represent a broader measure of social security benefit expenditure, covering all of the United Kingdom.
	Further details of the differences can be found in the notes accompanying the expenditure tables on the Department's website.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what percentage of people eligible for Winter Fuel Payments for 2003 received their payments by (a) 1 December 2003 and (b) 1 January; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what percentage of people eligible for Winter Fuel Payments for 2003 have received their payments; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: To date a total of 11,570,389 Winter Fuel Payments have been made in Great Britain for winter 2003–04. Of these 11,543,117 were issued by 1 December 2003. A further 27,272 payments were processed and issued by 1 January 2004.
	We cannot provide an estimate of the percentage of eligible people in receipt of a Winter Fuel Payment using DWP administrative data because we do not have complete information on household circumstances and payments are based on household composition.

Winter Fuel Payments

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps have been taken to ensure that all people eligible for Winter Fuel Payments for 2003 have received their payments; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: Most payments are made automatically, without the need to claim. Each year, we are able to identify most people likely to become newly eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment using current departmental records and they are sent claim forms automatically with an invitation to make a claim. This year they have until 30 March 2004 to make their claim.
	From June each year a publicity campaign is launched which continues through to the cut off date for applications in March. The campaign includes advertisements in national and regional press and leaflets and posters. There is also a Winter Fuel Payment helpline which is open all year round and information on the internet which is updated each year with specific details for that year's payment.

HEALTH

Abortion

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for each of the maternal deaths associated with termination of pregnancy for the period 1991-1999, (a) under what section of the Abortion Act 1967 the termination of pregnancy was being performed, (b) at what stage of gestation the pregnancy was and (c) what the age of the mother was.

Melanie Johnson: The following information, on the eight maternal deaths associated with termination of pregnancy for the period 1991-1999, has been taken from the relevant triennial Report on Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the United Kingdom. This is the only information available as after preparation of the Report, and before publication, all the maternal deaths report forms and related documents and files are destroyed.
	Grounds for the abortion were stated only in the reports for one case, which said "foetal abnormalities incompatible with life."
	The available information for gestation is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Gestation Number of cases 
		
		
			 Weeks  
			 Under 10 2 
			 10 to 12 1 
			 13 to 19 3 
			 20 plus 0 
			 "early pregnancy" 1 
			 "mid trimester" 1 
		
	
	For age, there were three references to "young woman", two for women in their "twenties" and one for a woman in her "thirties". In the other two cases, age was not stated.

Birth Defects

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on the incidence of birth defects of living close to landfill sites; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: A number of scientific studies have investigated whether there are higher than usual levels of congenital anomalies (birth defects) in populations living near to landfill sites, but no clear picture has emerged.
	The Government commissioned the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) at Imperial College to carry out a national study (Elliott et al, BMJ 2001; 323: 363–8, available at http://www.bmj.com. A full report is at http://www.doh.gov.uk/pdfs/report aug13.pdf). SAHSU found a small increase in congenital anomalies in populations living close to landfill sites. The study has not shown, or indeed could show, a causal link between landfill sites and birth defects. The independent expert Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) noted that the findings for birth outcomes were not consistent, and that the study provided no evidence that the rates of anomalies increased after sites had opened. COT advised that it is inappropriate to draw firm conclusions from the results. The opinion of COT is at http://www.doh.gov.uk/cotnonfood/landfill.htm. SAHSU also specifically analysed the data on birth outcomes in populations living near "special waste" landfill sites in Scotland, and found no evidence to suggest an excess risk of congenital anomalies (Morris et al, Scottish Medical Journal 2003; 48: 105–107, www.smj.org.uk).
	The Government have in place a research programme on the impacts on health of landfill sites. The report of one project, which reviewed the potential for chemicals which may be released from landfill sites to affect the unborn child, is at http://www.doh.gov.uk/landfillrep.pdf. The programme also includes reviews of the known causes and the geographical variation of congenital anomalies. Another project, funded by the Environment Agency, is undertaking detailed monitoring of emissions from landfill sites in order to assess the exposure of people living and working nearby. SAHSU is examining the geographical variation of congenital anomalies and is conducting an epidemiological study of Down's syndrome in relation to landfill sites in England and Wales.

Cardiologists

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cardiologists in the West Midlands specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of complex disorders of heart rhythm requiring ablation of parts of the conducting system; and how long the waiting list is for this treatment.

Stephen Ladyman: The table shows the number of cardiologists working within each of the West Midlands strategic health authority areas as of June 2003.
	
		
			 Strategic health authority Number of cardiologists 
		
		
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 38 
			 West Midlands South 15 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 15 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census.
	The Department does not hold information centrally on the particular specialism of each clinician. Waiting times for this procedure are not collected separately from other cardiological procedures, but the maximum waiting time for all in-patient procedures is currently 12 months and will be nine months by the end of March 2005.

Castle Point and Rochford PCT

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests for an independent review against Castle Point and Rochford Primary Care Trust's decisions relating to Health Care Funding have been received in the last 12 months; and how many were upheld.

Stephen Ladyman: I am advised by Essex strategic health authority (SHA) that the continuing care panel has heard one case in relation to Castle Point and Rochford Primary Care Trust (PCT) and has one case pending.
	I am further advised that in the case that was heard, the panel was of the view that the PCT's decision was correct and that the SHA was advised accordingly.
	The latest published figures for national health service written complaints for 2002–03 are available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/nhscomplaints.

Dentists

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) principal and (b) assistant dentists there were in (i) England, (ii) each NHS region and (iii) each strategic health authority who (A) offered NHS treatment and (B) had vacancies for NHS patients, in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The number of dentists providing general dental services dentistry in September in each of the years 1999 to 2003 is shown in table 1, separately for principal dentists and for dental assistants. The figures given prior to 2002 are derived from the old health authority areas.
	Information on dentists taking on new national health service patients is available on the www.nhs.uk/ web-site. The number of dentists accepting new NHS patients on 4 December 2003 is shown in table 2 for three main patient categories. This information is not available separately for principals and assistants. Earlier information is not available.
	
		Table 1: Number of general dental service dentists in England by region and strategic health authority for September 1999 to 2003
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Principal Dentists 
			 Region 
			 England 16,089 16,276 16,396 16,445 16,649 
			 Northern and Yorkshire 1,912 1,927 1,986 — — 
			 Trent 1,428 1,441 1,450 — — 
			 West Midlands 1,498 1,524 1,516 — — 
			 North West 2,091 2,096 2,103 — — 
			 Eastern 1,664 1,672 1,708 — — 
			 London 2,744 2,790 2,815 — — 
			 South East 3,005 3,039 3,090 — — 
			 South and West 1,747 1,787 1,783 — — 
			   
			 Strategic Health Authority 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 802 796 796 787 679 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 584 583 599 588 563 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 630 630 631 648 890 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 756 763 764 762 764 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 319 323 334 345 489 
			 Coventry, Warks, Herefordshire and Worcs. 471 477 477 489 493 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 591 586 598 595 658 
			 Dorset and Somerset 400 419 413 416 498 
			 Essex 465 480 494 474 477 
			 Greater Manchester 909 916 911 844 678 
			 Hampshire and Isle Of Wight 557 565 568 565 431 
			 Kent and Medway 521 509 508 505 680 
			 Leics, Northants and Rutland 411 405 411 416 588 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 615 609 615 624 807 
			 North and East Yorkshire and N. Lincs 472 483 501 503 473 
			 North Central London 527 537 541 552 368 
			 North East London 420 431 442 417 532 
			 North West London 786 800 792 771 675 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 439 442 448 458 407 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 397 417 408 415 492 
			 South East London 482 505 503 492 504 
			 South West London 529 517 537 541 169 
			 South West Peninsula 545 572 574 557 511 
			 South Yorkshire 314 327 333 408 400 
			 Surrey and Sussex 1,025 1,050 1,081 1,080 1,009 
			 Thames Valley 749 768 782 783 829 
			 Trent 716 717 716 725 859 
			 West Yorkshire 657 649 674 685 726 
			   
			 Assistant Dentists 
			 Region 
			 England 1,042 1,151 1,274 1,366 1,312 
			 Northern and Yorkshire 54 59 68 — — 
			 Trent 61 66 88 — — 
			 West Midlands 69 57 88 — — 
			 North West 95 76 98 — — 
			 Eastern 178 290 253 — — 
			 London 272 269 295 — — 
			 South East 211 223 273 — — 
			 South and West 102 111 133 — — 
			   
			 Strategic health authority 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 52 68 67 65 67 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 44 105 84 92 43 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 27 29 41 43 67 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 42 30 43 41 52 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 10 7 12 10 16 
			 Coventry, Warks, Herefordshire and Worcs. 18 14 24 22 44 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 28 24 29 30 44 
			 Dorset and Somerset 22 18 30 37 39 
			 Essex 53 57 52 58 56 
			 Greater Manchester 27 25 31 34 41 
			 Hampshire and Isle Of Wight 66 44 64 71 38 
			 Kent and Medway 35 50 53 66 76 
			 Leics, Northants and Rutland 14 17 19 19 52 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 81 128 117 125 107 
			 North and East Yorkshire and N. Lincs 18 20 15 15 29 
			 North Central London 46 69 51 53 19 
			 North East London 82 52 60 61 60 
			 North West London 67 64 83 77 52 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 10 8 8 14 21 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 24 14 23 16 22 
			 South East London 43 38 45 40 47 
			 South West London 34 46 56 54 10 
			 South West Peninsula 28 25 36 43 37 
			 South Yorkshire 14 12 16 19 31 
			 Surrey and Sussex 50 64 79 82 74 
			 Thames Valley 51 53 69 79 56 
			 Trent 38 45 53 74 67 
			 West Yorkshire 18 25 36 26 45 
		
	
	Note:
	Assistant dentist numbers do not include VDP's (vocational dental practitioners).
	
		Table 2: Number of general dental service dentists recorded on NHS.UK as accepting new NHS patients by strategic health authority on 4 December 2003.
		
			 Strategic Health Authority Charge paying adults Charge exempt adults Children 
		
		
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 71 103 146 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 455 537 650 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 469 506 552 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 571 616 756 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 375 384 412 
			 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire 197 200 270 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 102 212 102 
			 Dorset and Somerset 61 60 81 
			 Essex 325 325 436 
			 Greater Manchester 450 430 574 
			 Hampshire and Isle Of Wight 69 103 184 
			 Kent and Medway 173 233 313 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 167 164 184 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 413 437 543 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 127 156 191 
			 North Central London 390 392 486 
			 North East London 267 294 252 
			 North West London 369 465 568 
			 Northumberland, Tyne And Wear 468 456 479 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 67 85 159 
			 South East London 406 529 586 
			 South West London 260 323 382 
			 South West Peninsula 84 41 130 
			 South Yorkshire 250 202 288 
			 Surrey and Sussex 362 455 689 
			 Thames Valley 246 302 449 
			 Trent 435 461 526 
			 West Yorkshire 294 359 390

Dentists

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged (a) 17 years or under and (b) 18 years or over were registered with an NHS dentist in (i) England, (ii) each NHS region and (iii) each strategic health authority in each of the last five years; and what proportion each represents of the relevant age group.

Rosie Winterton: The information showing the number of people and the percentage of the population registered with a general dental service dentist by national health service region and strategic health authority at 30 September for each of the last five years, has been placed in the Library. The figures given prior to 2002 are derived from the old health authority areas. Following reorganisation, figures for NHS regions are not available from September 2002 onwards.
	Registrations lapse if patients do not return to their dentist within 15 months and so the registration figures exclude patients who have not been to their dentist within the past 15 months. The figures also exclude patients who receive dental treatment from other NHS dental services including dental access centres and those patients who choose not to register and who seek treatment on an occasional basis.

Domiciliary Care

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date applications for registration with the National Care Standards Commission are required to be determined.

Stephen Ladyman: There is no time limit for applications for registration with the National Care Standards Commission to be determined.

Drugs Treatment

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which constituencies in the UK do not have a needle exchange.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 13 January 2004
	We do not measure needle exchange coverage by parliamentary consituency. However, we do record it on a primary care trust (PCT) basis. Every PCT in England has access to a needle exchange service, distributing approximately 27 million needles annually.

Influenza Vaccination

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has given to local primary care trusts on the provision of influenza jabs to carers.

Melanie Johnson: Guidance has been issued on the immunisation of health and social care staffs who are recommended to receive flu vaccine. Carers are not routinely offered flu vaccination but general practitioners retain the discretion to give the vaccine to their patients based on an individual assessment of need.

Influenza Vaccination

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged 65 years and over have received the influenza vaccine (a) in England and (b) broken down by (i) primary care trust and (ii) strategic health authority in each year since 2001.

Melanie Johnson: The total number of people aged 65 and over who received flu immunisation in England in 2001 was 5,113,036 and in 2002 was 5,487,645. The data for 2003 is not yet available.
	Information on the number of people aged 65 and over receiving flu immunisation by primary care trust and strategic health authority since 2001 has been placed in the Library.

Leak Inquiries

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list occasions on which his Department has conducted an inquiry into alleged leaks from members of staff since 1997; and if he will list the occasions on which the names of those persons accused of leaking information from his Department have been made public (a) by the Government and (b) by way of another source.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 12 January 2004
	Since 1997 the department has investigated 37 suspected leaks. In line with exemptions 1(a) and 7(b) set out in Part II of the "Code of Practice" on access to "Government Information", it has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on the outcome of such inquiries in order to safeguard security and investigative arrangements. Other than cases where legal action has been taken we are not aware of any cases where names have been made public.

Ministerial Visits

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visits have been made by his Department's officials or ministers to look at drugs treatment in (a) Sweden, (b) France, (c) Australia, (d) the Netherlands and (e) USA in the last six years.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 13 January 2004
	Departmental officials have had occasion to visit Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands to look at their drug treatment systems within the last six years. Most regular contact is maintained through the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon, Portugal, where Departmental officials meet with colleagues from other countries two to three times a year.

Myoclonic Epilepsy

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the funding of equipment and clothing for children with myoclonic epilepsy and cerebal palsy; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The needs of individual disabled children are assessed by councils with social services responsibilities, principally under provisions of the Children Act 1989. Councils then have a responsibility to provide appropriate services.

NHS Charges

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the responses he received to proposed amendments to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989: A Consultation.

John Hutton: 124 specific responses to the consultation exercise were received. Two of the respondents have exercised their right to have their responses kept confidential. The remaining 122 are available in the Library.

Obesity

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of women were classed as obese in each year since 1990 in (a) England and (b) each region, broken down by social/economic status.

Melanie Johnson: Information is not available in exactly the form requested. Figures available from the Health Survey for England are shown in the tables. The tables give, for England, the percentage of women who are obese (with a body mass index over 30) from 1991, when the Health Survey began, to 2002 by social class and for the period 1998 to 2002 by Government Office Region. Figures prior to 1998 are not available by Government Office Region. The samples sizes available in the Health Survey do not allow robust estimates to be calculated for each region broken down by social/economic status.
	
		Prevalence of obesity among women by survey year and social class—aged 16 and over with a valid height and weight measurement—1991–2002 -- Percentage
		
			  Social class of head of household(27) 
			  I II IIIN IIIM IV V Total 
		
		
			 Women  
			 1991–92(28) 11 11 15 20 21 21 16 
			 1993 11 13 13 20 22 24 16 
			 1994 12 14 15 20 22 22 17 
			 1995 12 14 14 20 24 22 17 
			 1996 13 15 16 21 22 27 18 
			 1997 10 15 20 23 26 24 20 
			 1998 15 18 19 24 25 28 21 
			 1999 21 18 21 21 24 31 21 
			 2000 19 17 19 26 26 32 21 
			 2001 14 20 21 27 31 28 23 
			 2002 16 18 22 25 29 35 23 
			 
			 Bases
			 1991–92(28) 1,219 493 912 681 3,430 
			 1993 579 2,210 1,239 2,149 1,106 440 8,037 
			 1994 433 2,000 1,184 2,016 1,168 458 7,884 
			 1995 465 2,112 1,147 1,979 1,056 453 7,729 
			 1996 461 2,255 1,230 2,043 1,135 424 8,064 
			 1997(29) 261 1,160 671 1,100 655 230 4,254 
			 1998 471 2,231 1,193 1,983 1,201 429 7,730 
			 1999(29) 248 1,049 585 1,000 557 157 3,699 
			 2000(29) 198 1,193 654 806 496 189 3,703 
			 2001 412 2,278 1,304 1,710 1,078 386 7,414 
			 2002(29) 244 1,077 614 775 516 178 3,509 
		
	
	(27) I—Professional, II—Managerial technical, IIIN—Skilled non-manual, IIIM—Skilled manual, IV—Semi-skilled manual, V—Unskilled manual.
	(28) The sample sizes in 1991 and 1992 were smaller than in subsequent years and for reporting purposes the estimates from both years were combined. In addition, the figures for social classes I and II, and IV and V were combined.
	(29) In these years the focus was on special groups such as children, ethnic minorities and older people. The sample for the special groups was boosted and the sample for the general population correspondingly halved to about 8,000 adults. The figures above are based on the general population sample.
	Source:
	Health Survey for England, Department of Health
	
		Prevalence of obesity among women by Government Office Region—aged 16 and over with both valid height and weightmeasurements—1998–2002 -- Percentage
		
			  Government Office Regions(30) 
			 BMI (kg/m(31)) North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands 
		
		
			 Women  
			 1998 22.9 21.3 21.7 22.1 25.8 
			 1999 17.3 21.3 20.0 27.7 22.0 
			 2000 22.0 22.7 19.7 24.8 26.3 
			 2001 24.9 21.0 25.4 24.9 27.6 
			 2002 19.8 24.6 24.0 27.6 25.4 
			   
			 Bases  
			 1998 484 1,082 819 763 671 
			 1999 225 530 401 401 381 
			 2000 245 519 437 416 327 
			 2001 494 1,001 800 703 800 
			 2002 222 505 387 344 355 
		
	
	
		
			  Government Office Regions(30) 
			 BMI (kg/m(31)) East of England London South East South West England 
		
		
			 Women  
			 1998 21.6 19.5 19.3 19.4 21.2 
			 1999 20.1 20.3 17.8 23.1 21.1 
			 2000 19.3 21.8 19.4 17.4 21.4 
			 2001 23.8 19.9 21.8 24.1 23.5 
			 2002 22.1 25.5 19.3 16.6 22.8 
			   
			 Bases  
			 1998 862 960 1,216 526 7,730 
			 1999 433 395 551 381 3,699 
			 2000 414 440 536 368 3,703 
			 2001 865 800 1,132 814 7,414 
			 2002 390 411 564 331 3,509 
		
	
	(30) Figures prior to 1998 not available by Government Office Region.
	Source:
	Health Survey for England, Department of Health

Salt Depletion

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research has been conducted by his Department on salt depletion in the human body during hot weather.

Melanie Johnson: The Department has not conducted any research on salt depletion in the human body during hot weather. There is insufficient evidence to suggest that people should modify their normal salt consumption during hot weather conditions. It is, however, important to maintain an adequate fluid intake.

Thyroid Cancer

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what clinical trials have been conducted to establish the effectiveness of potassium iodate tablets in minimising the effects resulting from inhalation of airborne radioactive iodine, with particular reference to prevention of thyroid cancer; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: Stable iodine (of which potassium iodate is only one form) has been used clinically since the 1940s to protect the thyroid glands of patients (both children and adults) being treated with radio-pharmaceuticals which contain radioactive iodine. Potassium iodate is still routinely used in this way to this day. Its efficacy at protecting against the radiation induced thyroid cancer has been known, therefore, for over 60 years. The largest population administration occurred in Poland following the Chernobyl accident where over 9 million doses were administered. No adverse effects were reported and no increase in the rate of thyroid cancer was subsequently seen, unlike in Belorus and Ukraine were stable iodine was not administered to protect the local population.

Daily Winter Reporting System

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions his daily winter reporting system has indicated that NHS trusts are experiencing winter pressures; and in how many of those instances he has authorised escalation procedures to respond.

Rosie Winterton: The first full month of daily winter reporting was December. In December, there were an average of 20 National Health Service trusts (out of a total of 155 trusts with accident and emergency departments) per working day reporting operational problems. Such operational problems include the cancellation of elective operations.
	All strategic health authorities (SHAs) have developed robust winter plans, which set out escalation procedures to cope with increased seasonal demand for health services. The decision on whether a trust should put these escalation procedures into operation is not made by ministers or the Department of Health. Instead, the locally agreed escalation procedures are activated by the trusts themselves, in agreement with local primary care trusts and the SHA. Such an approach allows the local NHS to be timely in dealing with pressures and is in line with the Government policy of Shifting the Balance of Power to the local NHS. If required, the Department of Health will support a SHA in its local management of winter.

TREASURY

Birth Certificates

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many babies were born to unmarried mothers for whom no name of the father was entered on the birth certificate in each of the last 30 years, or in those years for which figures are available; what the (a) social class and (b) age of the mother at the birth of her first child was in each case; and how many subsequent births, when the name of the father was not entered on the birth certificate of the child, each mother had.

Ruth Kelly: holding answer 12 January 2004
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Frank Field, dated 14 January 2004:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your request for information on previous and subsequent births of mothers who had a birth registered without a father's name on the birth certificate (a sole registration) in each of the last 30 years. In particular you asked for information on (a) the social class and (b) the mother's age at her first live birth, and for information on how many of subsequent sole registered births the mother had. I am replying in the National Statistician's absence. (147176)
	Information is readily available, from birth registration records, on sole registration births by age of mother. However under the Population (statistics) Acts 1938 and 1960, information on birth order (that is whether a birth is a first birth, second birth etc.) is not collected at birth registration for women who are not married to the father of the child. Table 1, attached, provides information on the number of sole registrations by age of mother in each of the last 30 years (1973–2002).
	Similarly only limited information is readily available by social class from birth registration records. Social class of mother and father first became available separately from 1986. Only 10 per cent. of births are coded for social class and for around two thirds of sole registrations there is insufficient occupation data to assign a social class. Table 2 provides a summary of the readily available information on social class for sole registered births, 1986 to 2001. In 2001 the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification was introduced, replacing social class, and from 2002 data are not available by social class.
	To provide information on age at first live birth and on any subsequent sole registration requires successive birth records to be linked together. This can only be done using the ONS Longitudinal Study, a one per cent. sample of the population in which, since 1971, census records and vital events have been linked together. Extracting this information cannot be done in the time available to answer this Parliamentary Question. I will write to you again in two weeks to let you know whether the information available from this study is of sufficient quality to answer your question. You should note that, as there is currently only 30 years of birth registration records in the study, only a small proportion of women in the sample have a complete birth history that allows identification of sole registrations. It is therefore very unlikely that the last part of your question (on the number of subsequent sole registered births) can yet be answered reliably.
	
		Table 1 Live births outside marriage registered by mother alone (sole registrations), by mother's age 1973–2002. England and Wales
		
			  Age of mother 
			  All ages <20 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40+ Mean age Percentage(31) 
		
		
			 1973 31,168 14,408 9,774 3,972 1,825 887 302 22.0 4.6 
			 1974 29,398 13,986 9,144 3,709 1,506 808 245 21.8 4.6 
			 1975 27,986 13,480 8,503 3,503 1,499 750 251 21.8 4.6 
			 1976 26,359 12,631 7,981 3,406 1,416 705 220 21.9 4.5 
			 1977 26,064 12,201 8,066 3,335 1,557 684 221 22.0 4.6 
			 1978 27,835 12,778 8,849 3,558 1,717 718 215 22.0 4.7 
			 1979 31,118 13,712 10,127 4,175 2,026 824 254 22.2 4.9 
			 1980 33,204 14,032 11,340 4,516 2,176 869 271 22.3 5.1 
			 1981 33,758 14,047 11,589 4,700 2,290 878 254 22.4 5.3 
			 1982 36,453 14,453 12,991 5,383 2,298 1,086 242 22.5 5.8 
			 1983 38,417 14,351 14,093 5,819 2,651 1,225 278 22.7 6.1 
			 1984 40,593 14,928 14,876 6,383 2,824 1,269 313 22.8 6.4 
			 1985 44,458 15,872 16,440 7,358 3,146 1,364 278 22.9 6.8 
			 1986 47,822 16,379 17,922 8,246 3,479 1,479 317 23.0 7.2 
			 1987 50,474 16,787 18,944 8,909 3,875 1,609 350 23.1 7.4 
			 1988 53,944 17,098 20,350 10,185 4,320 1,642 349 23.3 7.8 
			 1989 53,537 16,142 20,179 10,399 4,600 1,781 436 23.5 7.8 
			 1990 54,831 16,191 20,135 11,140 5,006 1,933 426 23.7 7.8 
			 1991 54,131 15,249 19,671 11,396 5,398 1,973 444 23.9 7.7 
			 1992 51,472 13,457 18,370 11,421 5,642 2,133 449 24.2 7.5 
			 1993 50,242 12,535 17,476 11,418 5,967 2,336 510 24.5 7.5 
			 1994 49,030 12,007 16,408 11,390 6,204 2,501 520 24.7 7.4 
			 1995 47,916 11,880 15,626 10,864 6,485 2,529 532 24.8 7.4 
			 1996 51,016 12,946 16,245 11,350 6,978 2,891 606 24.8 7.9 
			 1997 50,582 13,223 15,590 11,015 6,997 3,050 707 24.8 7.9 
			 1998 49,960 13,830 14,838 10,672 6,768 3,151 701 24.8 7.9 
			 1999 48,203 13,194 14,477 9,936 6,615 3,221 760 24.9 7.8 
			 2000 45,773 12,459 13,919 9,213 6,116 3,309 757 24.9 7.6 
			 2001 43,744 11,669 13,583 8,582 5,875 3,213 822 25.0 7.4 
			 2002 43,129 11,229 13,599 8,133 5,949 3,373 846 25.1 7.2 
		
	
	(31) All sole registrations as a percentage of all births.
	
		Table 2 Live births outside marriage registered by mother alone, by mother's social class 1986–2001. England and Wales -- Numbers (thousands) and percentage of all births
		
			  Social class of mother(32) 
			  Non manual Manual 
			  I II IIIN IIIM IV V Others (33) Total 
		
		
			 Number 
			 1986 0.1 1.9 5.4 1.7 4.3 0.3 34.0 47.8 
			 1987 0.1 2.2 5.7 1.9 4.8 0.4 35.3 50.5 
			 1988 0.1 2.5 6.1 2.3 5.5 0.5 37.0 53.9 
			 1989 0.1 2.8 6.5 2.5 5.7 0.5 35.5 53.5 
			 1990 0.2 2.8 6.8 2.6 5.6 0.5 36.4 54.8 
			 1991 0.1 3.1 6.6 2.4 4.7 0.9 36.4 54.1 
			 1992 0.1 3.1 6.0 2.3 4.3 0.7 35.0 51.5 
			 1993 0.1 2.8 6.1 2.2 4.0 0.8 34.2 50.2 
			 1994 0.1 3.1 5.1 2.3 4.3 0.6 33.6 49.0 
			 1995 0.2 2.7 6.1 2.3 4.6 0.7 31.4 47.9 
			 1996 0.2 3.2 6.1 2.3 4.8 0.9 33.7 51.0 
			 1997 0.2 3.4 6.1 2.4 5.2 0.9 32.4 50.6 
			 1998 0.2 3.4 6.1 2.6 5.5 0.8 31.4 50.0 
			 1999 0.2 3.5 5.8 2.2 5.2 0.8 30.5 48.2 
			 2000 0.2 3.5 5.5 2.0 4.3 0.6 29.7 45.8 
			 2001 0.2 3.2 5.4 1.8 4.6 0.5 28.0 43.7 
			  
			  Percentage of all livebirths 
			 1986 1.4 3.0 6.3 9.2 15.0 11.1 7.4 7.2 
			 1987 1.3 2.8 5.5 8.8 13.8 12.0 8.3 7.4 
			 1988 1.0 2.9 5.0 8.6 13.4 12.0 9.1 7.8 
			 1989 1.2 2.9 5.2 8.9 13.2 11.9 9.6 7.8 
			 1990 1.5 2.6 4.9 8.3 12.0 11.0 9.9 7.8 
			 1991 1.0 2.8 4.7 7.5 10.6 13.1 10.5 7.7 
			 1992 1.0 2.7 4.2 6.9 9.6 9.7 10.2 7.5 
			 1993 1.0 2.4 4.4 7.1 8.9 9.8 10.5 7.5 
			 1994 0.7 2.6 3.6 7.6 9.3 7.9 11.0 7.4 
			 1995 1.6 2.3 4.1 7.1 9.2 8.9 11.5 7.4 
			 1996 1.0 2.5 4.1 7.0 8.8 11.3 12.5 7.9 
			 1997 1.4 2.7 4.4 7.8 9.6 12.2 13.1 7.9 
			 1998 0.9 2.5 4.5 8.0 10.5 10.8 12.7 7.9 
			 1999 1.1 2.6 4.3 7.0 10.0 11.9 12.8 7.8 
			 2000 0.9 2.6 4.4 6.2 8.9 9.8 12.7 7.6 
			 2001 1.1 2.3 4.2 6.2 9.6 9.1 12.1 7.4 
		
	
	(32) Social class classifications are: non-manual; I professional; II managerial and technical; IIIN skilled occupations (non-manual); manual; IIIM skilled occupations (manual); IV partly skilled occupations; V unskilled occupations; other.
	(33) Includes unemployed, armed forces, students and inadequately described occupations.
	Note
	Mothers occupation was not recorded before 1986.
	Based on a 10 per cent. sample of births.

Correspondence

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Totnes of 9 December 2003 regarding the overpayment and underpayment of tax credits to constituents in Totnes and Brixham.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue replied on behalf of the Paymaster General on 13 January 2004.

Departmental Advertising

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on recruitment advertisements in the press, broken down by publication, by (a) his Department, (b) quangos under the Department and (c) non-departmental Government bodies under the Department (i) in the last year and (ii) since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: Available information concerning recruitment advertising costs is given in the tables. HM Customs and Excise, the Inland Revenue and the Office for National Statistics delegate much of their recruitment to their various business elements. In consequence, only limited information is available.
	A breakdown of all publications used could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The departments and agencies responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer use a wide variety of different publications for recruitment advertising, tailored according to the nature of the vacancy to be filled. This includes the use of professional journals and magazines, national and local newspapers, and websites.
	HM Treasury
	Information for the financial years 1997–2002 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Recruitment advertising costs for the most recent financial years are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(34)  
		
		
			 2002–03 (35)126,238 
			 2003–04 to date (36)173,279 
		
	
	(34) excluding VAT
	(35) This does not include the advertising costs for two posts for which figures were unavailable.
	(36) This includes advertisements for two 'bulk' recruitment campaigns which were used to fill a number of posts, and advertisements for three roles at a senior level.
	HM Customs and Excise
	Customs and Excise delegate much of their recruitment to their various business areas. Information held centrally is limited, and therefore data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Debt Management Office
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(37) 
		
		
			 1998–99(38) 23,950.03 
			 1999–2000 62,895.42 
			 2000–01 101,731.50 
			 2001–02 31,840.15 
			 2002–03 20,790.45 
			 2003–04 to date 65,445.74 
		
	
	(37) including VAT
	(38) The DMO was only established on 1 April 1998 and therefore no data exists prior to this date.
	The Government Actuary's Department
	Information for 1997 to 2001 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information for the financial years since 2001 is as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(39) 
		
		
			 2001–02 27,083.75 
			 2002–03 16,614.50 
			 2003–04 to date 22,993.58 
		
	
	(39) including VAT
	Inland Revenue
	The amount spent on press advertising by the Inland Revenue from April 1997 to March 2003 (the last full financial year for which figures are available) was £4.2 million. The figure for the last full year (2002–03) was £1.3 million. A breakdown of all costs since 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the vast majority of Inland Revenue recruitment advertising appears in local or regional newspapers. National Savings and Investments
	Since January 2003, National Savings and Investments has spent £92,874 on recruitment advertising exclusive of VAT. Costs for previous financial years are as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(40) 
		
		
			 1997–98 5,345 
			 1998–99 32,711 
			 1999–2000 166,731 
			 2000–01 153,243 
			 2001–02 205,878 
			 2002–03 116,778 
		
	
	(40) excluding VAT
	Office of Government Commerce
	The following costs cover the period from April 2000 when OGC was first established to December 2003. Due to the merger of three ledger systems it has not been possible to disaggregate the April 2000 to March 2001 figures.
	Spend on recruitment advertising since formation of OGC in April 2000.
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(41) 
		
		
			 From April 2000–01 (42)191,566.13 
			 2002–03 351,576.74 
			 2003–04 to date 280,009.06 
		
	
	(41) including VAT
	(42) OGC was only established in April 2000 and therefore no data exists prior to this date.
	OGC Buying Solutions
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(43) 
		
		
			 From April 2000–01 (44)73,231 
			 2002–03 82,670 
			 2003–04 to date 60,933 
		
	
	(43) including VAT
	(44) OGC was only established in April 2000 and therefore no data exists prior to this date.
	Office for National Statistics
	Recruitment is carried out across several sites, and therefore information held centrally is limited. The data could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	Royal Mint
	Advertising expenditure 1997–2003
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£)(45) 
		
		
			 1997–98 39,070.60 
			 1998–99 53,355.87 
			 1999–2000 64,292.58 
			 2000–01 61,255.66 
			 2001–02 15,375.30 
			 2002–03 17,620.21 
			 2003–04 to date 32,805.44 
		
	
	(45) excluding VAT
	Valuation Office Agency
	Advertising expenditure 1997–2003
	
		
			 Financial year Cost (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 (46)13,308.71 
			 1998–99 (46)20,637.36 
			 1999–2000 (46)30,089.83 
			 2000–01 (46)36,181.67 
			 2001–02 (46)47,372.60 
			 2002–03 (47),(48)120,649.41 
			 2003 to date (47)154,814.20 
		
	
	(46) excluding VAT
	(47) including VAT
	(48) VOA accounting practices were changed to include VAT with effect from financial year 2002–03 onwards.

Departmental Relocation

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department work in (a) the West Midlands and (b) North Staffordshire.

Paul Boateng: There are no Treasury staff working in North Staffordshire or the West Midlands.

End of Year Returns

Brian Cotter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses employing (a) less than 50 staff and (b) between 50 and 249 staff have filed their employer's end of year returns electronically for each year since 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue does not have this information.

End of Year Returns

Brian Cotter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his Department's plan to bring forward regulations for the introduction of mandatory electronic filing of employers' end of year returns.

Dawn Primarolo: Following consultation two Statutory Instruments (SI 2003/2494 and SI 2003/2495) were laid on 29 September 2003 and came into force on 20 October. The first of these requires the e-filing of an employer's end of year PAYE return from May 2005 where the employer has 250 or more employees, and from May 2006 where the employer has between 50 and 249 employees. The second makes e-filing incentives available to employers with fewer than 50 employees over the five years from the 2004–05 tax year. In accordance with these regulations, the Inland Revenue has sent a letter to every employer on their database setting out the employer size band for 2004–05 and giving guidance about e-filing options.

Family Tax Credits

Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many outstanding family tax credit cases were awaiting processing on 31 December 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 12 January 2004
	There are currently around 20,000 claims (60 per cent. of which have been received in the past four weeks) which are waiting further information or being verified.

Financial Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact outsourcing of financial services operations to foreign countries will have on the UK economy and its skilled labour market.

Ruth Kelly: Despite fears of outsourcing abroad having an adverse effect on UK employment, the performance of the UK labour market over recent years has been strong by both international and historical standards. The UK has the highest employment rate and the lowest unemployment rate among the G7 economies.
	Moreover most jobs outsourced tend to be at low to intermediate skill levels. The Government's policies aim to ensure that those whose jobs are directly affected can acquire new skills and move quickly into alternative employment.

Financial Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the Financial Services Sector Skills Council will duplicate the work of existing examining bodies in the financial services sector.

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Services Sector Skills Council (FSSSC) will not duplicate the work of existing examining bodies in the financial services sector.
	The FSSSC will work closely with a range of industry bodies, including the Financial Services Authority and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to ensure the qualifications that employers want. This will include reviewing the suitability of existing training programmes and qualifications to meet sector needs and, where there are gaps, working with awarding bodies in the sector to develop new qualifications. The QCA will retain responsibility for maintaining the rigour and fitness for purpose of the national qualifications framework, ensuring qualifications are robust and reliable measures of achievement.

Financial Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Financial Services Authority has levied in fines since its foundation; and how much of this has been rebated to regulated firms by way of reduced fees.

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been able to levy fines on regulated bodies since 1 December 2001, and has levied £18,544,000 to date. The FSA reduces the amount charged to all fee-payers in any one financial year by the amount of financial penalties received in the preceding financial year. To date, £9,269,000 the FSA has been rebated by way of reduced fees.

Public Sector Pensions

Bob Laxton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the level of pension liabilities in the public sector due to final salary pension schemes.

Ruth Kelly: The level of unfunded pension liabilities are published in the Resource Accounts of the separate schemes. The latest aggregate estimate, based on the 2001–02 accounts, is of accrued liabilities of £380 billion as at 31 March 2002. The figure will be updated when the 2002–03 Resource Accounts are published shortly.
	It does not include the liabilities of the funded Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The latest estimate of their liabilities were set out on 17 March 2003, Official Report, column 614W. It also does not include the funded liabilities of schemes in the wider public sector run by statutory corporations. Information on these schemes are not held centrally and the responsibility for them rests with the relevant sponsoring Departments.

Public Sector Pensions

Bob Laxton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to reduce the public sector pensions liabilities caused by final salary pension schemes.

Paul Boateng: Public service pension schemes are reviewed regularly to ensure that the benefits represent value for money and continue to contribute to the overall aim of the remuneration package to recruit, retain and motivate staff. As part of this process the Government recently announced its decision to raise the normal pension age of public servants from 60 to 65 in the Green Paper "Action on Occupational Pensions" Cm 5835, June 2003. Schemes are consulting on how this might be achieved.
	The pension liabilities arising from rights accrued to date cannot be adjusted: the private sector is protected by section 67 of the Pensions Scheme Act 1995 and the public services by the Superannuation Act 1972.

Small Incorporated Businesses

Michael Jack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what studies he has undertaken to determine whether small incorporated businesses are paying the wrong amounts of tax on profits extracted from their companies;
	(2)  what proposals he has to ensure that small scale enterprises are fully aware of the tax distinctions between their being (a) incorporated and (b) unincorporated;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on his proposals to ensure that the right amount of tax is paid by owner managers of small incorporated businesses on the profits extracted from their companies;
	(4)  if he will define (a) profit extraction and (b) acceptable profit extraction for small incorporated businesses;
	(5)  if he will consult small owner managed incorporated businesses on his proposals to ensure that their tax contributions are correct in the light of the contents of paragraph 5.91 of Command Paper 6042;
	(6)  whether it is his Department's policy to encourage sole traders or partnerships to become small limited companies;
	(7)  whether his proposals in paragraph 5.91 of Command Paper 6042 will include measures to help small incorporated businesses to unincorporated;
	(8)  whether the right amount of tax referred to in paragraph 5.91 of Command Paper 6042 includes National Insurance.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have introduced a number of measures to support unincorporated businesses, including cutting the basic rate of income tax, the introduction of the 10p starting rate of income tax, permanent 40 per cent. first year capital allowances and the introduction of the VAT flat rate scheme.
	Paragraph 5.91 of the 2003 Pre-Budget Report (Command Paper 6042) announced that the Government would bring forward proposals, to ensure that the right amount of tax is paid by owner managers of small incorporated businesses on the profits received from their company, protecting the benefits of low tax rates for the majority of small businesses.
	The appropriate details and definitions will be set out in the Budget Report.

Small Incorporated Businesses

Michael Jack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many owner managed small incorporated businesses pay tax.

Dawn Primarolo: There is currently no precise definition within current tax legislation of 'owner manager'. This issue is among those being considered by the Government in the context of its announcement in paragraph 5.91 of the 2003 Pre-Budget Report.

Tax Credits

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many child and working tax credit recipients have reported changes in circumstances since being informed of their initial award.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 12 January 2004
	Information is not available in the form requested.

UK Company Profitability

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the profitability of UK companies with a turnover of (a) less than £1 million, (b) £1–20 million, (c) £20–50 million, (d) £50–100 million and (e) more than £100 million has been in each quarter since 1997;
	(2)  what the profitability of UK companies with (a) 1–49 employees, (b) 50–99 employees, (c) 100–249 employees, (d) 250–499 employees, (e) 500–999 employees and (f) more than 1,000 employees has been in each quarter since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Mr. Colin Mowl to Mr. Stephen O'Brien, dated 14 January 2004
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions on profitability of UK companies by turnover and also by number of employees. I am replying in his absence. (148180, 148181)
	Unfortunately the Office for National Statistics (ONS) do not produce statistics on profitability of UK companies by turnover or by number of employees. The ONS does produce a quarterly First Release called the Profitability of UK Companies, which is available on the ONS website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/profit0104.pdf
	The Release shows the profitability of all UK companies and also for United Kingdom continental shelf companies, manufacturing companies and service companies. The profits data used in calculating these estimates comes from a relatively small sample inquiry of companies. The sample is too small to enable us to produce estimates in the detail requested.